Kopi cakes with peanut honeycomb

With coffee in the cake and condensed milk in the icing, these little loaves (you can also make one large cake) embrace the flavours of Malaysian coffee, which is usually served with a spoonful of condensed milk stirred in. The honeycomb on top adds crunch but the cakes are delicious without it, too.

Kopi cakes with peanut honeycomb. Credit: Murdoch Books / Laura Edwards

• makes

  8

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Cake

• 180 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 180 g unsalted butter, cut into roughly 6 pieces, then left at room temperature
• 100 g caster sugar
• 80 g soft dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 10 g instant coffee powder, dissolved in 20 ml water from a recently boiled kettle

Icing

• 1 tbsp instant coffee powder
• 2 tsp boiling water
• 130 g unsalted butter, cut into roughly 4–5 pieces, then left at room temperature
• 200 g condensed milk
• pinch of fine sea salt

Peanut honeycomb (optional)

• 70 g caster sugar
• 30 g golden syrup or honey
• 1 tbsp water
• 70 g roasted peanuts
• pinch of fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Recipe makes 8 mini loaves or 1 larger loaf.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160˚C fan-forced (or 180˚C for conventional ovens). Grease and line the base and sides of 8 mini loaf tins (approximately 7 cm × 4 cm × 4 cm deep) or 1 standard loaf tin (approximately 1 kg capacity, roughly 20 cm× 10 cm) with baking paper.
2. To make the cake, sift the flour, cinnamon and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium–high speed until light and creamy – about 2 minutes.
3. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the base and sides of the bowl after each addition. The mixture will look curdled at this stage, but don’t worry – it will come together at the end. Add the sifted dry ingredients and the coffee, then mix on medium–low speed just until it is combined.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared tins and bake for about 25 minutes (50–55 minutes for the larger loaf tin) – a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean. Place the tins on a wire rack and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before turning the cakes out to cool completely.
5. While the cakes are in the oven, make the icing. Place the coffee in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over. Stir well to combine, then set aside to cool to room temperature. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium–high speed for about 1 minute, until the butter is light and creamy. Reduce the speed to medium and very slowly drizzle in the condensed milk, stopping the mixer to scrape the base and sides of the bowl from time to time. Add the coffee, 1 tsp at a time, ensuring each addition is combined before adding the next. Add the salt and whisk for a further minute or until the icing is soft and silky. Set aside in a cool place until ready to assemble. If it is a hot day, refrigerate for 30 minutes before using. If the icing is in the fridge for longer and firms up, you may need to re-whip it.
6. To make the peanut honeycomb, line a baking tray with baking paper. Combine the caster sugar, golden syrup (or honey) and water in a small saucepan. Place over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Without stirring, bring to a low simmer and cook until the mixture has just turned golden brown and reached 149˚C (hard crack stage) on a candy thermometer (about 3–5 minutes). Add the peanuts and salt, stir to combine, then quickly stir in the bicarbonate of soda. When it foams up, pour the honeycomb onto the lined baking tray, then set it aside to cool completely.
7. When you are ready to serve, break the honeycomb into smaller pieces and place it in a ziplock bag. Roughly bash the bag a few times with a rolling pin to lightly crush the honeycomb. Spread (or pipe) the icing thickly on top of the little loaves, then sprinkle with the peanut honeycomb. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

• Although I don’t usually add sugar to my coffee, something happens when I’m back in Malaysia – I can’t resist stirring a spoonful of condensed milk into my long black (and my tea). It’s how Malaysian coffee (‘kopi’) is served, and when I’m in the familiar warmth and humidity, surrounded by the distinctive sounds and smells of the country, I can’t resist joining in. Strong and sweet, smooth and creamy, condensed milk balances out the bitterness of coffee and of tannins in tea. I wanted to try it in cake form, and attempted several times to get the condensed milk into the batter, but it tasted sweet in a one-dimensional way. And once the icing went on top, it was almost sickly. Then I had the idea to separate the two – black coffee in the cake, condensed milk in the icing, whipped to utter lightness. Apart, but together. It works!
• The peanut honeycomb is gilding the lily somewhat, so don’t feel you have to make it, but for textural crunch, it adds another dimension to the cake. The honeycomb can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Image and recipe from Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh, photography by Laura Edwards (Murdoch Books RRP $55.00).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.