Coffee Sponge Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce
A tall coffee sponge with a soft, fragrant crumb and warm salted caramel sauce, made for pouring over each slice at the table.
- Total
- 1 hr 15 min
- Prep
- 25 min
- Bake
- 50 min
- Level
- Medium
- Serves
- 10
- Tin
- 20 cm springform
This tall coffee sponge has the equal-part shape found in the Waitrose and BBC Good Food recipes, with the quantities enlarged for one 20 cm springform tin. Instant coffee gives the crumb a clear coffee flavour without adding much liquid.
The main thing to watch is the centre of the cake. The deep batter needs a longer bake than a two-layer sponge, so check the middle rather than relying on colour alone.
Ingredients
For one 20 cm springform, serves 10
For the cake
For the salted caramel sauce
You will need
- 20 cm round springform tin
- baking paper
- electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- mixing bowl
- small bowl
- rubber spatula
- wire cooling rack
- small saucepan
- wooden spoon
- skewer
Oven
175°C fan 155°C 345°F
Method
Oven 175°C · fan 155°C · 345°F
Cream the butter and sugar
Heat the oven to 175C, 155C fan. Grease the 20 cm springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Beat the 260 g softened butter and 260 g caster sugar with an electric mixer until very pale, soft and fluffy, with no firm butter streaks left around the bowl.
Add the coffee and eggs
Stir the 8 g instant coffee into the 45 g freshly boiled water and leave it for a moment until the coffee is fully dissolved and the liquid smells strongly roasted. Beat the eggs into the creamed mixture one at a time, then mix in the coffee liquid. The batter may look a little loose and glossy, but it should still hold soft ridges from the beaters.
Fold in the flour
Fold the 260 g self-raising flour into the bowl with a rubber spatula, scraping from the bottom and turning the mixture over until no dry flour remains. The finished batter should be thick, smooth and coffee-coloured, with a soft mound that slowly settles when the spatula passes through it.
Fill the tin
Scrape the batter into the lined springform tin and spread it level with the spatula, taking the mixture right to the edges. The surface should look smooth and even, with a few small air bubbles visible but no deep hollow in the centre.
Tip If the batter has formed a high mound in the middle, smooth it before baking. A level surface helps the tall sponge cook evenly.
Bake the sponge
Bake for 48 to 55 minutes. The cake should be a deep golden brown on top, smell strongly of coffee and feel set around the edges. A skewer pushed into the middle comes out with a few damp crumbs, and the top springs back.
Cool and make the caramel
Leave the baked cake for 20 minutes in the tin, then release the springform ring and transfer the whole cake to a wire rack. While it cools, put the 150 g light brown soft sugar, 60 g unsalted butter and 120 ml double cream into a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring until smooth. Add the 2 g fine sea salt and cook until the sauce is glossy, thick enough to coat the spoon and smells buttery and caramel-like.
Tip Keep the saucepan over moderate heat and stir steadily. If the sauce looks grainy, continue stirring over gentle heat until it becomes smooth and glossy rather than increasing the heat.
Cut the cake
Let the cake cool until the crumb feels warm rather than hot and cuts cleanly. Slice with a sharp knife, lifting one wedge from the whole cake so the close, fine coffee crumb is visible from the top to the base.
Tip Use a gentle sawing motion through the sponge rather than pressing down hard, which can compress the soft crumb.
Baker's notes
- Use freshly boiled water for the coffee so the granules dissolve completely. The small amount of liquid is there to carry the coffee through the batter without making it loose.
- The sauce should remain pourable as it cools. If it thickens too much before serving, warm it gently until it flows from the spoon again.
- For the cleanest slices, let the cake cool until warm and cut with a sharp knife, then pour the warm sauce over each slice at the table.
- Allergens: contains dairy, egg and gluten. No nuts or alcohol are used.
Keeping it Keep the cooled cake covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store the sauce separately in the refrigerator and warm it gently before serving.
Questions, answered
Can I use instant coffee granules in this cake?
Yes. Dissolve the instant coffee fully in the freshly boiled water before it goes into the batter. This spreads the coffee flavour evenly through the sponge.
Can I bake this coffee cake in a shallower tin?
The recipe is sized for one 20 cm round springform tin. A shallower or wider tin changes the depth of the batter and therefore the baking time, so use the stated tin for the timing in this recipe.
Can I serve the caramel sauce cold?
You can, but the sauce is made to be served warm. At a warmer temperature it loosens enough to pour over each slice rather than sitting in a thick layer.
Can I make the cake ahead of serving?
Yes. Bake the cake earlier in the day, keep it covered once cool and make the sauce while the cake cools or shortly before serving. Warm the sauce gently before taking it to the table.
If it goes wrong
- It sank in the middleSeven causes, told apart by the shape of the crater.
- It came out raw in the centreBrown outside, wet inside, and how to rescue the one you are holding.
- The caramel seizedIt is almost always fixable. The lump re-melts.
