This recipe was created a tier for a friend’s wedding cake, aiming to be impressive (satiate my ego) but also crowd-pleasing to taste (to satiate the guests). It was an absolute hit and ultimately not too complicated to make (satiating my inherent laziness).
RECIPE:
BROWN BUTTER SPONGE
200g UNSALTED BUTTER (However you find it when you come to start baking, we’re going to be cooking it so it doesn’t matter!)
200g CASTER SUGAR (Light brown sugar would swap in very happily if you have it to play with)
4 WHOLE MEDIUM EGGS
200g SELF-RAISING FLOUR
4g BAKING POWDER
1g FINE SALT (She said to herself, chuckling to herself while she weighed out 1 single gram. Why weigh it out? Who knows, why not- and yes you can just use a ‘pinch’.)
1 STRONG ESPRESSO SHOT (brewed and cooled)
COFFEE SYRUP
4 SHOTS OF ESPRESSO (“If I wouldn’t drink it, I won’t bake with it” so I hear you say to yourself? Yay!!!)
200g LIGHT BROWN SUGAR (caster sugar is fine here yes but light brown sugar elevates the rich coffee notes. It’s your syrup, I won’t judge you)
200ml WATER
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
150g UNSALTED BUTTER, (at room temperature)
150g ICING SUGAR (sieved yes, but we will be mixing it AGGRESSIVELY with the butter so perhaps don’t go mental over it?)
1 Tsp VANILLA EXTRACT
330g CREAM CHEESE (if you’re feeling a bit weird about cream cheese and coffee together you can swap in mascarpone instead. Boring)
2 Tbsp SOUR CREAM
BEFORE YOU START…
Preheat your oven to 160c (fan oven, 170c for other, less powerful ovens)
Grease and line two baking trays with oil and parchment.
METHODS:
FOR THE BROWN BUTTER SPONGE…
Cook your butter in a pan until foaming, golden in colour and smells nutty. Decant into a bowl and allow to cool completely at room temperature.
(This can be done a day in advance; I found waiting it for on the day you want to then bake with it very annoying! or hey, maybe after this section you’ll be so addicted to brown butter you’ll just cook a load in large batches and have it to hand always)
Combine the sugar and butter together in a bowl and whip vigorously until lightened, pale and thick. Weigh your dry ingredients together in a bowl and whisk the eggs together in another. Add these to the butter sugar mixture, alternating and mixing thorough before adding the next, mixing carefully, slowly until nice and smooth. (Once you start adding flour to any cake batter, careful and slow mixing ensures overmixing and helps to establish a soft cake crumb)
Finish by folding through the espresso shot, mix once more before decanting the mixture between the two trays, spreading evenly and baking until golden and risen (12 minutes should be perfect, but give it a prod to check if she bonuses). Leave to cool completely on wire racks.
FOR THE COFFEE SYRUP…
Combine everything in a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Once the cakes had cooled, brush the syrup across until all used up.
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING…
Cream the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, sour cream and mix until evenly incorporated.
TO ASSEMBLE: Cut each sponge in half (don’t worry about trimming the sponges, this is done after assembly to show the layers) . Take 2/3 of the cream and divide it across the sponges, spread evenly and layer up all four sponges. Use the final third to pipe on top of the cake. Set in the fridge for half an hour before trimming the layers evenly (cleaning your knife each time to ensure the layers look nice and clean). Once assembled, much like your cappuccino, dust with a light layer of cocoa powder before serving.
