Rich Coffee Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 cup cold boiled coffee
• 3.75 cups flour
• 5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp clove
• 0.5 tsp mace
• 0.5 tsp allspice
• 0.75 cup raisins, seeded and cut in pieces
• 0.75 cup currants
• 0.25 cup citron, thinly sliced and cut in strips
• 2 tbsp brandy

Method

creaming|Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is pale, thick, and noticeably lighter than when you started — this takes 4–6 minutes with an electric mixer on medium speed. You're incorporating air into the butter fat, which expands during baking and creates the crumb structure. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition so they emulsify fully into the fat. The mixture should remain smooth and voluminous; if it looks curdled or splits, the eggs were too cold or added too quickly. Stir in the molasses, then add the cold coffee slowly. The liquid will look slick at first, but keep stirring — the emulsion will hold.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and all four spice|spices together. The sifting distributes the leavening and spices evenly; it's not ceremonial. Fold the dry mixture into the wet ingredients using a spatula, turning from the bottom up until you see no streaks of flour. Stop folding immediately — overworking gluten development makes the cake dense and tough. The batter should drop easily from the spatula but still hold its shape.

Toss the raisins, currants, and citron in a small bowl with the brandy. Let them sit for 5 minutes so they hydrate slightly, then fold them in last. This prevents them from sinking to the bottom during baking. The spirits also flavour them and help preserve the cake.

Divide between two buttered, floured deep cake tins (20 cm diameter). Bake at 160°C for 45–60 minutes. The cake is done when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and the surface springs back when pressed — it should feel springy, not hard. A butter-cake of this type and density takes longer than a lighter sponge because the dried-fruit and molasses slow heat penetration to the centre. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out. This cake keeps well wrapped for a week and improves slightly over two days as the flavours marry.