Your favourite coffee just got baked! This Flat White Coffee Traybake has an intense chocolate and coffee soaked sponge which is then topped with a smooth and creamy light coffee buttercream.
What’s your go-to coffee shop order? Mine has always been Oat Flat White and up until last year requesting that to my friendly barista was a daily routine. When then four walls of my house became my commute, coffee house and office all wrapped into one I had to learn fast how to create my own Flat White at home. I’m incredibly grateful and lucky to have my own Sage Barista Bean to Cup machine so getting barista style coffee wasn’t a million miles away. Nothing beat the real thing but soon enough I was creating semi acceptable Flat White’s and that machine has officially been hailed the BEST purchase of my lifetime.
When it comes to coffee in food, it seems opinions are split. Some of you can’t go a day without coffee but hate coffee cakes, and others despise coffee but love it in cake. I sit in the middle as I could eat and drink coffee all day. For the aforementioned team, I protest that you shouldn’t let that fact that this is a coffee traybake put you off from trying it. I tested this out on several coffee cake haters and they scoffed it up quicker than me.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
The perfect blend of flavours | This isn’t just any coffee traybake because it’s been made with an intense dark chocolate powder which gives a really rich flavour. Paired with coffee and the combination of sweet and bitter becomes a harmony for the taste buds. Honestly just try it!
Easy to bake | This is a really straight forward recipe which mixes all dry ingredients together, all wet ingredients together and then combines the two together. You only need two bowls and one whisk so it’s minimal washing up for the ultimate treat!
Perfect for sharing | Traybakes are my favourite cake to bake when I’m going places and want to bring my friends a treat. Cakes, whilst beautiful can be tricky to transport and they’re always a bit fussy to slice, but a traybake can be pre sliced and transported back in the tin it was baked in!
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED TO BAKE THIS COFFEE TRAYBAKE
Rectangle traybake baking tin | A good quality rectangle baking tin is a great baking essential to have on hand for this recipe. They’re such versatile tins as you can make so many great bakes in them such as brownies, blondies, millionaire shortbread, flapjacks. The list goes on.
2 large mixing bowls | It’s always handy to have more than one mixing bowl, especially when a recipe needs you to mix your dry and wet ingredients separately first. I have numerous mixing bowls in varying sizes.
Baking Paper | An essential and necessary for any cake baking.
Off-set Spatula | If you like cake decorating then this is a great tool to have to hand. Compared to regular palette knifes the angled edge means you can get close to the buttercream and spread it across the sponge more evenly. Alternatively, the back of a spoon also works well.
Barista Coffee Machine | This is completely optional but as mentioned in the introduction its the best purchase I’ve ever made to date. It’s a hefty price tag but if you’re someone who loves coffee then it really is a great investment. We’ve easily made our money back over the last 2 years of owning it so much so that we’re actually upgrading it now to the newer model.
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DIFFERENT WAYS TO BAKE THIS COFFEE TRAYBAKE RECIPE
I chose to bake this coffee traybake as a sheet cake but there are other ways you can make it should you need to make cupcakes or a celebration cake. See below some notes on how it can be adapted.
Cupcakes | If you half the recipe below it will give you enough to yield 12 cupcakes. Bake them at 160C until well risen for 20-25 minutes. Put the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe generous swirls on top with a dusting of cocoa powder and crushed chocolate coffee beans.
Loaf Tin | Keep the same quantities for a 2lb loaf cake and half the recipe for the 1lb loaf cake. Swirl the buttercream generously across the top once fully cooled.
Layer Cake | The same recipe will yield two 8inch cake tins which can both be cut into two to make 4 layers. The buttercream will generously fill the layers with a light coating around the edge to make a naked cake effect but if you want to coat the cake then I suggest doubling the ingredients for a fully coated cake.
MY KITCHEN TIP: I suggest letting the sponges cool fully then freeze them before stacking to ensure best results as this cake has a very delicate crumb. Simply cover the sponge in cling film and store in a freezer bag overnight or for up to 4 hours then bring out just before you need to decorate.
OTHER GREAT SHARING BAKES FOR YOU TO TRY
I would love it if you tagged me @mykitchendrawer on Instagram if you make this Flat White Coffee Traybake. It’s the biggest honour to see my recipes come to life in your kitchen and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a message. Happy baking!
Flat White Coffee Traybake
Equipment
- Rectangle Baking Tin
- Measuring Jug
- Off-set Spatula
- Several mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Sieve
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 225 g plain flour
- 2 tbsp instant coffee
- 75 g intense black cocoa powder
- 100 g golden caster sugar
- 200 g caster sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 175 ml sunflower oil plus extra for greasing
- 2 large eggs
- 175 ml milk
- 2 shots espresso freshly brewed, cooled
For the buttercream
- 100 g unsalted butter softened
- 200 g icing sugar
- 20 g cocoa powder plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 2 tbsp milk
- 100 g chocolate coated coffee beans crushed
Instructions
For the sponge
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C then grease and line a rectangle cake tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, instant coffee, cocoa, sugars, baking powder, bicarb and salt and whisk together to combine.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk the oil, one shot fresh coffee and eggs until combined, then whisk through the milk.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap it firmy onto a worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes then once removed from the oven brush over the remaining shot of coffee and let it sink into the sponge. Let the sponge cool fully before decorating.
For the buttercream and decoration
- Beat the butter until light and fluffy then add the icing sugar, coffee and cocoa and stir all together until combined.
- Add 2 tbsp milk to loosen the mixture and continue beating until it's smooth and light.
- Put a large spoonful in the centre of the cooled sponge cake and spread it over across the sponge evenly using a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Finish with a dusting of cocoa powder and chocolate coated coffee beans
