If you have to make a cake for a tea stall at a fête or a show, then Coffee Cake is your best bet. In my experience, it is the most popular cake to offer and it's straightforward to make. You only need buttercream icing for the top and middle and then finish it off with walnuts or pecans (as I have here).
An advantage for those serving the cake is that the nuts divide the cake nicely so that it's easy to cut into even portions. Oh, and it tastes great. Really, it's the ideal cake for the tea tent - or for any afternoon tea. 
Coffee Cake
Best contribution for the tea tent
The annual village show where my mother lives is a lovely English country show full of locally grown flowers, fruit and veg as well as cakes, jams, and all sorts of arts and crafts. There's even a largest pumpkin category - just as I remember it from my childhood! And of course, all the people who visit want a cup of tea and a slice of cake. Mum and I usually volunteer to do a shift in the refreshment tent and to make a cake each.
One tin or two for a sandwich cake?
I often make a coffee cake for the show - and often two. As I don't have enough tins I cook them differently - one in two shallow tins and one in a deep tin. Both were very good, according to comments I've overheard.
I wouldn't recommend cooking a sponge like this in one tin, though, if you have the option not to. I'll have to have a few more attempts to understand the cooking time before I could definitively say what it should be - basically I cooked it for 40 minutes at 170°C then reduced the temperature to 150°C for a while.
Make a smaller or larger cake
- 15cm (6-inch) cake - 2 large eggs, 125g butter, sugar, flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 18cm (7-inch) cake - 3 large eggs, 175g butter, sugar, flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 20cm (8-inch) cake - 4 large eggs, 250g butter, sugar, flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder.
If you want a square cake, use this formula:
- 18cm (7-inch) square cake = 20cm (8-inch) round cake
- 15cm (6-inch) square cake = 18cm (7-inch) round cake
Why is my cake dry?
If your cakes turn out dry, check out my article Why Is My Cake Dry? for some of the most common reasons and the solutions.
If you like this...
...Why don't you try:
Carrot Cake - with cream cheese frosting
Everyday Chocolate Cake
Lemon Drizzle Cake
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Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 250 g butter, at room temperature
- 250 g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (10ml)
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules, heaped teaspoon (20ml)
- Very hot water
For the buttercream:
- 125 g butter at room temperature
- 250 g icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules, heaped tsps (20ml)
- Very hot water
For the decoration:
- 12-16 pecan or walnut halves
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/ 170°C fan/ gas mark 5/ 375°F
- Line the tins with a paper liner. Grease the tins (if they need it) with butter paper (or a little butter on kitchen paper)
For the coffee cake:
- Mix the instant coffee with as little hot water as you need to dissolve the granules/powder2 teaspoons instant coffee granules,, Very hot water
- Put the butter and eggs with the coffee liquid into your mixing bowl. Add the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.Avoid putting the coffee liquid directly on top of the flour or it may cause granules in the cake.250 g butter,, 250 g caster sugar, 4 large eggs, 250 g self-raising flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Evenly divide the mixture between the tins. Smooth the top with a palette knife and make a slight dip in the centre
- Cook for about 25 minutes until the cake surface springs back when you touch it lightly with your fingertip
- Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack before icing.Leave the paper in place if you don't intend to ice them immediately.
For the coffee buttercream:
- Dissolve the coffee granules in the water as aboveVery hot water, 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules,
- Put the butter into a medium-sized bowl and beat until it is soft. This is best done with a hand-mixer125 g butter at room temperature
- Add the coffee liquid. If you aren't sure about the strength, only add half now
- Add about a quarter of the icing sugar and beat, slowly at first to avoid the icing sugar going everywhere (see note).Add the rest of the icing sugar in installments, beating thoroughly each time. Taste to make sure the flavour is right. Add more coffee liquid if you prefer250 g icing sugar
To assemble:
- Remove the baking parchment from the cake if you haven't already done so.If the cakes have a pronounced peak, just cut it off with a large, sharp knife. The cakes don't need to be totally flat
- Put one cake on the serving dish and use half the buttercream to cover. Spread it evenly. Put the second cake on top and cover with the remaining buttercream
- Arrange the nuts on the top of the cake. 12 gives you a good sized portion but if you want smaller slices use 16 nuts.
Notes
- Use a splatter guard over your mixing bowl, especially for the icing, to keep the mixture in the bowl
- The cakes keep well for up to a week in an airtight box - preferably in the fridge.
- The un-iced cakes can be frozen for up to a month
Shirley says
Can I cook this cake in a ninja foodi and how
Susie Collings says
Hi Shirley, You can make the cake in an air fryer. I haven't done it yet so can't advise how, but the cake mix is like a Victoria sponge if you can find instructions for that.
Gilly says
Made this as I’ve done in years gone by but used your recipe this time it was fantastic my daughter wants one for her birthday now !
Susie Collings says
Hi Gilly, So pleased you and your daughter like the cake 🙂
Peter says
Just made this coffee cake for the first time.
Should I have let the two cakes go cold before putting the icing on?
I put the icing on whilst quite warm and the icing appears to be soaking in slightly.
What is the correct way of doing this?
Looks delicious so can’t wait to try it, of course I’ve been testing the mixes as I went along and it appears fine.
Susie Collings says
Hi Peter, Yes, let the cakes cool completely before icing them o r the icing will melt and soak in. I will update the recipe to clarify. Testing the mixes is one of the perks of baking IMO 🙂
Peter says
Thanks for that, as I am new to baking cakes it really helps to not make mistakes and put you off.
Have now made 6 lemon drizzle cakes and fruit cakes, I have a request for a whiskey fruit cake so here goes hic.
Susie Collings says
Hi Peter, Sounds like you have a production line going 🙂 I bet you're popular.
A Needham says
Is 1 teaspoon of baking powder enough for this quantity of ingredients? The smaller chocolate cake uses 1 1/2 tsps. Thanks A
Susie Collings says
Hi. Thanks for spotting that. You need 2 teaspoons ideally. It's not a disaster with one tsp as this extra is to compensate for the all-in-one method of making the cake where you beat the air out of the mixture. I've updated the recipe. Cheers - Susie
Kate says
Hi Susie,
I love your recipes! How could I adjust this to work when I only have one 8 inch tin (or I have one 7 inch)? I only want a cake with 6-8 portions and plan to buttercream frost the entire cake and pipe some swirls on top with walnuts to add some extra height/detail.
Many thanks,
Kate
Susie Collings says
Hi Kate, I'm assuming your cake tins are deep, if you've got just the one. I made this cake in one deep 8-inch tin as well as two shallow ones - see the blog text for details. For a 7-inch cake use 3 eggs and 175g butter/sugar/flour. Set the oven a bit lower: 180°C/ 160°C fan/ gas mark 4/ 350°F. Cook for 35-45 minutes. Test by pressing gently with your finger. If the cake springs back it's done. Cheers - Susie
Naomi S says
I REALLY loved this recipe! The cake was so light and fluffy and rose far better than any cakes I have made in the past. I made it for someone's birthday and they loved it- so did the rest of the family so it was a winner. The buttercream was lovely and silky and you can adjust the strength of coffee to suit your taste. I like that the cake was not too sickly. It was sweet without being overwhelming and had a gorgeous homemade taste. My only minor concern was that it seemed to have some little hard bits in it- not too noticeable but I'm not really sure where that came from.
Thank you!
Susie Collings says
Hi Naomi, So pleased you like the recipe 🙂
Hard bits - hmm! Could be coffee that didn't dissolve, or sugar that was hard. You'll know by the taste though.
Otherwise, egg-shell? I don't think the coffee liquid would be hot enough when added to cook some egg.
My best guess is that the coffee was absorbed by the flour before mixing. I will amend the recipe to add the coffee with the eggs to avoid that.
Cheers - Susie
Ziya says
Hi, recipe looks fab. Can I use two shallow 7 inch tone instead? Thanks.
Susie Collings says
Hi Ziya, You can use 7-inch tins. You will need 3 eggs and 175g sugar, butter, flour. I have updated the text to reflect this.
Scarlet says
I made this cake for a friends birthday, he loved it so much he refused to share Any of it, not even a slice! I then took one I'd made to another friends and was told it was the best cake I'd ever made!
Safe to say even my sister enjoyed it and she is not a coffee fan so over all I'm very impressed and would never use another recipe again! Thankyou for sharing!
Susie Collings says
Hi Scarlet, So pleased you all liked the cake 🙂 That's brilliant that your sister liked it too! Cheers - Susie