Glazed Coffee Crunch Cake

I do fear I am awfully fond of cake.  Just like Paddington cannot resist a jar of marmalade and Pooh cannot resist a pot of honey, I cannot resist a tin containing a cake. 

I know I should have a lot more self control than I have.  But, that's just me.  Cake and I have a romantic relationship which goes back a very long way.

  To me, a week without at least one cake in it is a week with something special missing.  All my grown up cooking life I have made sure that at least once a week I bake a cake of some kind. 

An empty cake tin . . . just doesn't bear thinking about, truly. Tell me I am not alone in this.  Please!!

 





This week it was this delightful Glazed Coffee Crunch Cake.  Back home there is a candy bar called Coffee Crisp . . . and it is one of my favourite candy bars . . . and this is one of my favourite cakes. 

It contains many of the same elements which  I enjoy from my favourite candy bar.  Its deep coffee flavour.  The crunch.  The sweet.  And yes, even some chocolate.

 



Deeply flavoured with strong coffee, this is a moist cake, with a beautiful crumb. Indeed you will find yourself collecting the crumbs on the tips of your fingers to eat. You will not want to waste even the tiniest scrap of it. 

Not a smidgen in the least.  Trust me on this.  I have never lied to you before and I am not about to start now!

There is a fabulously moreish streusel topping stogged full of lovely toasted walnuts. As well the streusel contains chocolate chips and is delicately flavoured with cinnamon. 

Walnuts and coffee have a wonderful affinity for each other.  As do chocolate and coffee. And cinnamon too, for that matter. And as if that is not enough . . .

It's crowning glory is . . . a  sweet coffee drizzle icing.  This gets flicked all over the top. I always use a fork for drizzling. It works very well. Much better than a spoon. 

Altogether this is a wonderfully delicious cake and one which is very hard to resist. Each mouthful is a delicious delight!

 




In fact, I think I'll cut myself another slice now and sit back and enjoy it . . . that is if there is any left.  Someone may have been raiding the tin. 

I promise it wasn't me.  Truly. Okay, maybe just a little bit, but how could I resist something so tempting as this?

 




Cake . . . it is truly my only weakness.  Shhh . . . 

Okay.  Admittedly it is a very long list of weaknesses.  But then again, we were never mean to be perfect were we?

 






*Glazed Coffee Crunch Cake*
Makes one 9-inch round cake
Printable Recipe

A deliciously moist and beautifully flavoured cake topped with a walnut and chocolate chip streusel.

For the topping:
60g plain flour (2/3 cup)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
40g soft light brown sugar (1/4 cup packed)
40g cold butter, cut into bits (3 TBS)
90g chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
60g chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup)

For the cake:
170g unsalted butter, softened (3/4 cup)
170g golden caster sugar (3/4 cup)
3 large free range eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
60ml strong espresso or instant coffee, cooled (4 TBS)
100g ground almonds (1 cup plus 3 TBS almond meal)
100g self raising flour (9/10 cup) sifted
with 1/2 tsp baking powder

For the coffee drizzle:
130g of sifted icing sugar (1 cup)
strong coffee (cold) enough to make a drizzle

Preheat the oven to  160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3.   Butter a 9 inch round loose-bottomed baking tin and line with baking paper.  Butter the paper.  Set aside.

To make the streusel topping measure the flour, sugar and cinnamon into a bowl.  Rub the cold butter in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.  Set aside.

Cream the butter for the cake along with the sugar until pale, light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, a little bit at a time, mixing well after each addition.    Stir in the vanilla and cold coffee.   Stir in the almond meal.  Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold this into the batter.  Spread the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing over the top.  Sprinkle the streusel evenly over top of the cake. 

Place onto a baking sheet and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean and the streusel is golden.

Remove from the oven.  Allow to sit in the tin for 10 minutes before carefully removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Once the cake is completely cooled, whisk together the icing sugar with enough strong coffee to make a thick drizzle icing.  Flick this over the top of the cake in a decorative manner.   Allow to set completely before cutting into wedges to serve.  Store in an airtight cake tin.

Some other coffee cakes that you might enjoy:

COFFEE CAKE - A delicious coffee flavored layer cake from the WI with a lush coffee cream filling and toasted walnut garnish. Fabulous with a nice hot cuppa.

ICED COFFEE AND WALNUT LOAF - A lovely loaf cake that is neither too big, nor too small. As Goldilocks would say, its just right.