I have been craving sweets after dinner, so I started searching for an inspired treat. I came across a recipe for a “Texas Sheet Cake”, which became my inspiration to develop this Espresso Spice Cake recipe. Picture a one layer cake of tender chocolate slathered with chocolate frosting and sprinkled with sliced almonds. It is the perfect combination of unique ingredients like espresso, spices and buttermilk. If you don't like sweet, this cake served with the frosting is not for you. The cake alone is so light and moist and is great without any frosting. However, for the first version, chocolate frosting it is. The frosting gets poured over the cake while they are both warm. Next time I make this cake I will swap the chocolate poured frosting for a cream cheese sauce or frosting. I must say, this cake is sure to please everyone, it feeds 16. If you want to feed a bigger crowd you can cut the cake into smaller squares and it will serve 24. Express Your Love Through Food! ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS - CAKE
1 cup unsalted butter
½ cup lightly packed premium unsweetened dark 100% cocoa powder
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup strong espresso
2 cups 00 flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prepare a 14 x 10 x 2-inch prepared baking dish (or similar size)
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the cocoa, oil, espresso, vanilla extract and almond extract and bring to a rolling boil for 30 seconds. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside to cool slightly.
Then sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients by hand to ensure they are well mixed.
Pour the warm cocoa mixture into the sifted ingredients and whisk until just combined. In a small bowl, blend together the eggs and heavy cream (I used an immersion hand blender). Stir the egg and heavy cream mixture using a rubber spatula into the batter. Pour batter into your prepared greased pan and place in the center of the oven. Bake until the top is firm and a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes clean, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Test the doneness of the cake after 30 minutes. Do not overcook. this cake is delicious. While still warm add the frosting, recipe below.
The best way to enjoy this cake with after dinner with an espresso or latte!
INGREDIENTS – FROSTING
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup lightly packed premium unsweetened dark 100% cocoa powder
1/3 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
¼ to ½ cup sliced almonds
INSTRUCTIONS
As the cake is baking, make the frosting. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the cocoa, cinnamon and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and whisk in the cream, vanilla extract and almond extract. Once combined, add the confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time whisking continuously. Immediately after the cake comes out of the oven, pour the frosting over the hot cake and sprinkle with the sliced almonds. Try not to jiggle the cake before it sets or you'll leave waves in the frosting. After cooling for one hour refrigerate the cake for 2 hours. Once cool before cut into squares. The size of the squares is up to you LOL!
Alternative to the Chocolate try the Cream Cheese Sauce or Cream Cheese Frosting.
Well wrapped and stored at in the refrigerator, this cake keeps for up to 7 days.
ENJOY!!! Express Your Love Through Food! #espressocake #spicecake #chocolatecake #chocolatespicecake #deliciousdessert
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