Mocha Cake

I'm poorly today (boooo!) so to keep myself able to power through my work I've been mainlining coffee. I also needed comforting so wanted cake but also not to leave the house. That meant I spent an hour this evening whipping up this yummy chocolate & coffee cake. It's usually raises to impressive heights but I was not feeling like making such an effort so just whacked all the ingredients in a food processor rather than following my method below. It still looks and tastes good, so I say that's a win for a sexy snot-monster. The icing is really creamy and delicious.

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 150g caster sugar
• 150g butter or margarine
• 3 eggs
• 100g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 1 tbsp instant coffee

For the icing

• 225g icing sugar
• 100g butter or margarine
• 2 tbsp instant coffee
• Splash of hot water

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 160C. Line and grease a cake tin.
2. Add the sugar and the butter to a bowl and cream together.
3. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the butter/sugar mixture.
4. Fold in the flour and baking powder.
5. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and add to the mixture still folding.
6. Whisk the egg whites and fold it in gently until combined.
7. Add to the sandwich tin and cook for 30 minutes.
8. While the sponge is cooking, make the icing by creaming the butter and the icing sugar until light and fluffy. Dissolve the coffee in a splash of hot water and add it to the butter and icing sugar (not too much or it will be runny). Whisk and leave in the fridge until the cake is done.
9. Once the cake is out of the oven and fully cooled, either cut in half and spread icing in the middle or frost the outside. Add nuts if desired.