Coffee Cake

I made a lovely coffe cake, have been looking for a decent recipe for a while and this is one!  I love lots of buttercream and this has it.  I didn't use coffee essence, I used espresso which I made up with 1 tablespoon of coffee and 6 tablespoons of boiling water which I left to cool.  I also set the temperature to 170degrees as we have a fan oven and left it in for 20minutes.

Ingredients

·         250g butter or margarine

·         200g caster sugar

·         60g golden syrup

·         4 large eggs

·         250g self-raising flour

·         1 level tsp baking powder

·         3 tbs coffee essence

For the filling and decoration:

·         200g unsalted butter, at room temperature

·         400g icing sugar

·         2-3 tbs coffee essence

·         tsp cocoa powder, for dusting

·         2 x 20cm (8in)sandwich tins, buttered and base-lined

Method

1.    Set the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Putthe butter, sugar, syrup and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Sift in the flour andbaking powder, and add the coffee essence. Whisk together for 1-2 mins untilthe mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.

2.    Divide the mixture between the two tinsand spread evenly. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 mins, untilwell-risen and firm to the touch. Turn the cakes out on to a wire rack to cool.

3.    To make the filling: Beat the butter, icing sugar, coffee and 2 tbswater together until smooth, light and fluffy. Place one of the cakes on a flatserving plate and spread with half the buttercream. Place the second cake ontop and spread with the rest of the buttercream, swirling the top. Dust withcocoa powder. Slice to serve. Store in an airtight container. It will keep acouple of days.