Austrian coffee cake with coffee buttercream

Ingredients

For the sponge cake:

• 75g walnuts, finely chopped
• 263g self raising flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 263g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 263g golden caster sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 ½ level tablespoons instant espresso coffee powder mixed with 3 tablespoons - boiling water

For the syrup:

• 1 ½ level tablespoons
• 75g Demerara sugar
• 83ml boiling water

For the swiss meringue buttercream:

• 4 egg whites
• 250g caster sugar
• 250g unsalted butter
• 2 level tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder mixed with slightly less than 1 tablespoon - boiling water

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Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. Line two 20cm round sandwich tins with baking paper. Beat together all of the ingredients except for the coffee and walnuts. Ensuring that your butter is soft will make this task easier. Add the coffee and walnuts and beat further until the mixture is well combined.
• The mixture should drop from the spoon when tapped on the bowl. If it doesn?t add a little more hot water. Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared tins and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Mine took 40 minutes.
• While the cakes are cooking, make the syrup: place the coffee and sugar in a heatproof bowl and then add the boiling water. Stir until both the coffee and sugar have dissolved. You will need to stir briskly to ensure this.
• When the cakes are cooked, leave in the tins, on a wire rack. Prick them all over while they are still hot ,and spoon the syrup over both sponges, trying to distribute it as evenly as possible.
• After 5-10 minutes, when the sugar has dissolved (when you cannot see any crystals on the back of the spoon), remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water and whisk until the meringue has puffed up and the mix is cool.
• Add the butter and coffee to the meringue and whisk until the butter has been completely incorporated into the meringue. At first it will look a disaster ? it will collapse and look curdled but don?t worry! Stop when the mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.
• Spread approximately a third of the buttercream on top of one of the sponges and then put the other sponge on top. Use the remaining buttercream to cover the top and sides as desired.