Nespresso in my cake

Thank God for great household inventions, they do make lives better, don't they?   I have a few favorites (those that I give myself/hubs a pat on the back for buying them), of course there are some regrets hiding around the house too :)   Being the self-confessed coffee lover that I am, one of my recent favourite is the Nespresso machine, brewed espresso almost at an instance from the comfort of your home.  Hmm, I can almost smell it...  How about putting them in some cake?? I always wondered if using brewed coffee would give coffee cake a stronger aroma.  I am not sure if it's the recipes that I used but somehow it is never as prominent as I would like it to be.  So, I tried...

I followed a new recipe instead of using the chiffon recipe that I normally used.  The cake turned out nice and soft.  As for the aroma?? Yes, it was there, slightly stronger but again not as strong as I wished for it to be.  That made me wonder, why is it that store bought ones have this very strong coffee  aroma be it cakes, bread or even sweets?  I think I know why (after scrutinising the ingredients listed), it's coming from some form of artificial flavouring or maybe some coffee essence if we are lucky.  I think I will settle for coffee bakes as it is, I must convince myself if I want anything stronger, I should just make myself a cuppa instead...

Recipe
Source : The cookbook chronicles, adapted from Five Roses Cookbook


Note : My variation in blue.  Slightly less sweetness and dividing the sugar between egg yolk and white batter to help stabilize the egg whites)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup brewed coffee,
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar (3/4 cup brown sugar)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt (fine sea salt)
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or other neutral flavored oil, like canola or peanut) 
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract (obmitted)
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (obmitted)

Method

1. Brew the coffee, and allow it to cool. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar (1/3 of sugar) and salt.
2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add in egg yolks, vegetable oil, brewed coffee, and vanilla. Stir til combined. 
3. In a separate bowl, add cream of tartar to egg whites. With an electric beater (or stand-mixer), beat until medium-firm peaks. (Beat egg whites till soft peak, add in 2/3 of sugar in two additions until stiff peaks)
4. Pour 1/3 of the coffee batter into the whipped egg whites, and gently fold the batter in until combined. Add another 1/3 of the batter in, and repeat until the batter is completely incorporated into the egg whites, taking care not to over-mix. (Try not to deflate the egg whites–the air is what keeps this cake light.) 
5. Pour batter into chiffon cake pan and bake for 45 minutes at 175C degrees. Turn up the temperature up to 180 degrees and continue to bake for about 10 minutes more. 
6. Invert the cake until cool. Run a knife along the edge of the pan to release.

Posted in: Chiffons