Mocha Cake

It's no secret that i love a good cup coffee and love cake, so unsurprisingly coffee cake is one of my all time favourite cakes. My mocha cake came about over the weekend as I had spare chocolate buttercream and latte flavoured icing sugar so I thought of mixing the 2 flavours to make what would essentially be a mocha if I were making it up as a drink


No surprises i was pretty pleased with the overall result, so here is my take on a mocha cake

To make a 7 inch round cake you will need:

Equipment
1x 7 inch round loose bottomed cake tin
greaseproof paper
spatula

For the cake
4oz self raising flour
2oz dark cocoa powder
6oz golden caster sugar
6oz softened margarine
3 medium eggs
3 tbsp olive oil

For the chocolate buttercream
3oz softened salted butter
4oz icing sugar
2oz dark cocoa powder

For the coffee buttercream
3oz softened salted butter
6oz vanilla latte flavour icing sugar*
OR 6oz icing sugar with 1 tbsp of coffee powder
OR 1 tbsp coffee powder dissolved in 1 tbsp of cooled boiled water


For dusting
cocoa powder
crumbled Cadburys Flake

• Preheat your oven to 160c (fan assisted), grease and line your cake tin with greaseproof paper on the bottom and a collar round the inside going all the way around.
• Place all the ingredients for the cake into a bowl and mix either using a freestanding mixer or hand held electric whisk until you have a smooth fluffy batter.
• Pour the batter into the cake tin and level the top of the batter with either a spatula or a breakfast knife
• Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes until the cake has risen and springs back when lightly pressed in the middle. Alternatively, insert a skewer into th centre of the cake, and if it comes out clean the cake is ready, if not then leave for a few minutes. Once cooked, set aside and leave to cool completely
• Whilst the cake cools, make both the buttercreams. To make the chocolate buttercream place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a hand held electric whisk (make sure you start off on the slowest speed to stop the icing sugar from flying everywhere) unitl the ingredients have all incorporated smoothly and you have a spreadable consistency. If the mixture is too stiff, add a tablespoon of milk to loosen the mixture.
• In a separate bowl, do the exact same for the coffee buttercream
• Once the cake is completely cool, split the cake into 2 halves using a large knife or a cake leveller
• On the bottom half, using a spatula, spread the chocolate buttercream so that it almost meets the edges of the cake all the way round (i leave a slight gap from the edges as when the top half is placed ontop, as you lightly press it to secure it in place, the buttercream will spread to the edges and not spill out)
• Place the top half on to the bottom half carefully ensuring the edges meet, and lightly press the top to ensure it's secured in place.
• Spread the coffee buttercream again using a spatula** all over the top of the cake, and if you've any left over, all over the sides of the cake. Dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder, sprinkle the crumbled flake all over and serve 

*For the vanilla latte flavoured icing i use flavoured icing made by sugar and crumbs icing, which is readily available from most cake supply stores and online
** If you dont have a spatula, you can always use a breakfast knife

My Dobsters mint Tea

I am definitely one that loves a good cup of tea at the end of a long hectic day, but drinking caffeine fuelled drinks in the evening isn't the way to go for a good nights sleep and there's not many herbal teas out there that i like either.  
So I made a few attempts at making fresh mint tea and couldn't quite get it right. Now my niece makes a mean cup of tea - Hence the title My Dobster's Mint tea- Dobster being my chosen term of endearment to call her by- so i got her to show me her version & this recipe is based on that with a tiny little twist 



For Dobster's Mint tea - with a twist you will need :

3 - 3 1/2 pints of water 
large bunch of fresh mint
4 inch piece cinnamon stick broken into pieces 
8-10 whole green cardamom pods cracked open
2 x pukka peppermint & liquorice teabags*
handful of mint leaves for garnishing
honey to sweeten - optional

• Pour your water and all the ingredients  except for the teabags into a large saucepan and on a high heat bring to the boil.
• When the water has reached boiling point, reduce to a low heat and leave to simmer till the water has reduced by about half.
• Add in the pukka tea bags and leave to simmer on a low heat for 10-12 minutes. Pour the tea into a teapot ( through a large tea strainer or plastic sieve to catch all the bits ) 
• Take the glasses or cups you are wanting to serve the tea in and drop a few mint leaves into the cups. Pour in the tea, sweeten with honey if wanted & serve 

* you'll find these in any superstore in the tea and coffee section