A few quick comments I wanted to add: - I shouldn't have thrown the cake in the bin like that. Food waste is a massive issue, and regardless of being unable to share that cake with anyone, and unable to eat it myself - it going in the bin shouldn't have made it to the final video. My own waste around video productions is a concern, and this was just stupid. I apologise. - I'm also not trying to throw shade at other food TH-camrs. The point was that a more technical approach to coffee brewing rarely intersects with a more technical approach to food. I'm sure the Babish espresso was good, it's just of a different style than I was trying to illustrate here - and generally you tend to see that larger, weaker style of espresso brewed on food channels, rather than shorter stronger espressos. - I'm sorry this wasn't the Tiramisu video. (Or the Aeropress video, or even the Clever Dripper video.) I will get there, but Tiramisu will definitely be next year now. One day I will learn the lesson about not talking about videos before I'm actually making them.
Tiramisu is a HUGE thing for me and it kills me how ppl settle for instant expresso. You can extract such a deep, beautiful flavor with other blends. Looking forward to ur video!
I think people are majorly overreacting to the Babish nod, it was quite clear what you were trying to communicate. People seem to have a bit of an unfair expectation of you to be almost inhumanly unpartisan. Good grief!
So glad you addressed the throwing away off the cake. Please consider re editing to take out that part, even with the apology, it is unbearably galling.
@@taylor-ruth. is it some other worldly expectation though that as you spend time editing in clips from other channels for the express purpose of highlighting how they're doing stuff badly or wrong that you'd reflect for a moment and be like "huh, maybe I can make this point without directly referencing other people trying to make a living and doing their best and instead, just say that pulling weaker shots is something to avoid" like the bar is almost on the floor...
A teacake is designed to be served with tea, not tasting of tea. You do, however, get such a thing as a tea loaf, which calls for the sultanas/raisins to be marinated in tea before adding to the batter. Also lovely alongside tea! ☺️🫖☕️ I love all the food and drink quirkiness from area to area, country to country. 😂🤣
@@wesleymatthews6356 yes! You eat it while drinking good coffee. No need to put cake in my coffee and no need to put coffee in my cake (but that is better than cake in my coffee).
A nice thing we did in the bakery was make a coffee soak: Espresso + light simple syrup, place it into a bottle and drizzle or spray it onto the cake after baking. Gives it a LOT of flavor.
@@tristandonohoe1732 unfortunately I don't remember the exact recipe but think about making a really good shot (or 3) of espresso and sweetening it with simple syrup like you would for a drink. You just want it ever so diluted to not take away from the coffee but also thin enough to not have huge pockets of espresso poured onto the cake
doing this might have allowed him to add a bit more coffee flavor to the buttercream. but james is right, a lot of the time the buttercream or mousse or whatever else has the dominant role and the sponge is basically just there to be able to call it cake.
This is beyond funny. First, thank you. Second, marry me. Third, I wish you all a next-year in which we dial down the outrage and dial up the wit. It's a much more potent force, and certainly goes better with coffee.
Worked as a professional baker for two years before starting my own business, and one thing we did with coffee cake to add a nice compliment to the sponge, was a cardamom meringue for a Turkish coffee direction.
Hello, James! I made this tonight. It was labor-intensive, but worth it: very tasty. I was initially skeptical at how much butter (proportionally) goes into the buttercream, but I'm pleasantly surprised at how the end result isn't overpoweringly buttery. Rather, the coffee-infused butter provides a butterscotch essence, in addition to a distinct coffee taste, and it's just sweet enough. I was also shocked at how light and fluffy this buttercream turned out. That's a nice change of pace from traditional thick, overly sugary buttercream. The cake is really pleasant: soft texture with subtle coffee flavor. We don't have an espresso machine here at home, so I used 90g of strong pour-over coffee (George Howell Coffee Co. "Guduba" light roast from Ethiopia), which appears to have worked well. For the infusing process, I used Coava's "Mr. David Mburu" beans, which I think made for an excellent flavor. Thanks for introducing us to true coffee cake!
OMG yes. I am so tired of people that are trying to make some coffee related desserts and caring about every single product to be premium quality EXCEPT the coffee itself.
While you’re right that coffee cakes in the U.S. aren’t coffee flavored, good ones aren’t bland and tasteless. They’re designed to enhance coffee (or to be enhanced by coffee). A really good coffee cake in the U.S. is moist and cinnamony - often with a nutty crumbly topping that gives the cake just a bit of crunch. Or there are the ones from my local bakery that have a flaky croissant-like texture with a maple walnut icing. Unbelievably good with hot rich coffee in the morning. Your cake would be a delicious dessert and I’m sure I’d love it. But it would not be my choice of cake to have WITH my coffee.
Agreed. I do find it interesting as well that he admitted Coffee flavored coffee cake is a pretty low bar as well. I would guess, as the guy who made a video titles "Stop putting coffee in everything", he would prefer a delicious cake designed to pair well with quality brewed coffee.
@@JCRaptorGene What? that's beside the issue anyway. It's the usual american issue with names... "football" much? Or "insert sport name" World Series (what world?)...always wondered why: I concluded that the hubris of the average american makes him go like "heh...name's weird? No problem, I'll just bend reality to match it, 'murica style".
@@varieedeventualii What are you angry about? What is besides the issue? Actually, what was the "issue" in the first place? BTW: I agree with you about 'Football' and 'World Series'.
@@Scaff666 yes, it makes no sense. But also, teacakes are a thing in Britain, and they don't have tea in them - they're just bready things with fruit in (or without fruit, in some parts of Yorkshire, or a completely different chocolatey-marshmallow thing in Scotland). In any case all things you eat with tea. (Or for tea, perhaps).
Hey James! I'm a musician and actor based in Los Angeles and wanted to let you know that I've been a huge fan of your channel for quite some time. As a fellow coffee enthusiast, your videos and tips definitely helped me destress during quarantine (even made my Moka Pot Cafecito recipe stronger!). Love to see you branch into coffee based desserts I think this is a natural direction for your content. Keep doing what you do, man! Your expertise is greatly needed and always appreciated.
Thank You so very much! I am American, and I've been searching for most of my adult life for a real coffee tasting, coffee cake! You are right in that coffee cake like I know it, tastes like cake with cinnamon on top....that is it.
I bake daily and have done some coffee cakes in the last few months. I find that espresso curd - literally a lemon curd made with coffee instead of lemon juice - is a phenomenal filling! A huge hit at my house. Also - as far as cake decorating is concerned - try an offset cake decorating spatula rather than a straight blade spatula. It works wonders! That's what we used on my wedding cake that we made last month!
Even the worst contestants are really good bakers, he might be able to get through day one. I’d personally rather see him on as a guest introducing special ingredients.
Let's not think small here guys, let's think big. James doesn't need to appear on a TV programme already in place, James deserves his own TV programme all to himself!
Generally powedered coffee is used for two reasons; it’s pretty ubiquitous, and 2, it doesn’t add too much liquid. For quite a while coffee cake was made with a coffee concentrate, ie Camp or Irel. That may be something to explore. One of the benefits of baking sweet cakes/sponges with a sourdough base is that one adds a liquid anyway, and acidity works with the sourdough and bread soda as the raising agent. I’ll share my base recipe if anyone wants it. I’ll certainly be trying a coffee variation very soon.
Everyone: AEROPRESS! AEROPRESS! AEROPRESS! James: Did you say you want the ultimate coffee cake recipe? Everyone: ... Yeah, sure, that does sound good...
Yep, used our Aeropress for the espresso. But I'm not clear about the amount of espresso to be used. The recipe linked above says 90 grams (10% strength). So, 90 grams is equivalent to 3.1 ounces of dry weight or 1/3 cup of liquid espresso. Is that 3.1 ounces of espresso grounds brewed with 3-4 ounces of water? Or a shot of espresso which is just shy of 1/3 cup of espresso? And what does 10% strength mean. If you dilute a shot with too much water that's all you end up with...coffee colored water?
It was my first cake I've ever made and it was delicious! There were also some issues I had to work on, but in general, my family and I were delighted.
As an Adam Ragusea viewer, I'm also wondering how GMS compares to modified corn starch. (featured in this video: th-cam.com/video/4Sjv3LRVubo/w-d-xo.html )
I made this recipe for thanksgiving and I think I can say without a doubt it turned out to be the best coffee cake I have ever had. I learn't a few things which I would like to share 1. If your making coffee butter on the stove top dont walk away even if its on the lowest setting it can suddenly start boiling and you can burn your butter, your very likely going to have to move it on and off the stovetop and whisk constantly. 2. Most cake recipes use too much sugar however don't skimp out on the sugar in this recipe it is actually perfect. 3. While heating your egg whites to make the meringue stir constantly and uniformly and keep your water bath on a gentle simmer, also keep your stand mixer ready so you can immediately start whisking. Also it can take a lot longer than 10 minutes to form stiff peaks(took closer to 30 minutes for me), I think factors like humidity affect this. 4. I din't have GMS and I did not wan't to buy something to keep in my pantry which I would eventually throw away so I skipped that. 5. The cake sponges get dry really quick in the refrigerator so if you really want to impress I would bake it 2-3 hours before you plan to consume. If you love coffee, and like cake I promise you this cake doesn't disappoint.
You can put a thin layer of the butter cream around the sides of the cake too if you want to hold it in the fridge ahead of serving. That will help prevent drying out.
American coffee cake shouldn't be bland if it's made right, it's a spice cake! It's called coffee cake because you eat it with coffee, which traditionally is had after your supper (though I'm amazed that people used to be able to drink coffee after dinner then just go to bed)
I have been baking coffee cakes for years now and I have used Camp coffee every time and they are delicious. I have won prizes for them too. Same goes for the butter cream. The cake is made with all in one method. So quick and easy.
7:36 "I have no idea why people aren't adding well-brewed espresso to this recipe" *After using espresso from a $2000+ grinder and $2000+ espresso machine*
As soon as I saw this I ducked out of a livestream, brewed a cup, and came back. ALSO! Coffee cake story: when I was a student and trying to survive as a musician I relied a lot of the food put out at university recitals to pad out my meals. I started doing studio work and the wife of the studio runner is an amazing home chef. One early recording day she had made american coffee cake. It was absolutely divine. A fluffy, moist, and delicate cake flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. The topping was rich and buttery and crisp. Nothing I’ve had elsewhere has come close. And I don’t know why I never thought a coffee cake could be a COFFEE cake and not a cake served with coffee.
If you want - I'll come get you, and together we can go find HER - and then proceed to beg her to make us that very cake!!! It would be worth every mile.♡
Your skirting of the line of pretentiousness and inspirational, interesting and engaging whilst dipping your toe in self deprecating is a work of art! Loved this video for some reason. Really spoke to me.
Hi James, I'm an American (North Eastern Specifically). Coffee cake as I've grown up with it, is a cake that is meant to be enjoyed specifically with coffee and one that amplifies and enhances the flavor of the coffee. Mostly cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. It's always been a dense cake locally, so you take a bite of this dense, buttery cinnamon / sugar cake, and the lingering spices and butter mix with a sip of coffee and elevate each other. I think that is the objective of a "coffee cake". Its not to make a mediocre cake that tastes kind of like coffee, its to enhance the experience of eating the cake as well as drinking the coffee. (this is 100% just my unresearched opinion, and how 1 passionate fat man feels about cake / coffee).
I really love the ultra moist chocolate cake with beetroot and two espresso by nigel slater, its in his book "tender". its definately a lovely coffee flavoured cake.
This is interesting that you managed to make coffee cake that tastes like coffee cake. I work in the field of flavour and actually keeping the coffee flavour in a baked good is very difficult. The aroma of coffee comes from hundreds of smell chemicals but the most important is called 2-furfurylthiol. This sulphur-compound on its own smells so distinctly of coffee and without it, coffee is not the same. This compound is produced during the roasting (maillard chemistry) of coffee beans but is not thermally stable enough to undergo more heating (like baking in a cake). Therefore I ask; does the coffee 'taste' like coffee because of the aroma of the cake or is it purely from the bitterness of coffee?
@marathon664 I'm not an expert nor a baker, but you could probably make cupcakes at around that temperature and it be ok but I think a cake might be too big and the inside wouldn't cook properly.
My wife and I had a coffee cake for our wedding. It turned out to be the British kind, with frosting that tasted like straight butter. It wasn't what we had hoped.
a sentence of praise: i really like that you penetrated the idea of infusing oil with coffee. that's an awesome research you did, and it yields really valuable results. i love it already. i am a bit fascinated by the idea of extraction. not specifically for coffee but basically anything. broth. tea. spices.
I was thinking if I made this I'd make a browned butter infused with a coarsely ground good coffee for the cake sponges. Susan Spungen has a recipe where she does this for a biscuit (Dirty Chai Earthquake Cookies) and the browned butter adds a wonderful additional dimension. Much less of an issue to have a few fines in the sponge than in the buttercream.
@@fionaclaphamhoward5876 good idea, but you need to be incredibly attentive, since butter burns very easily and it's hard to tell when it has the right state if you mix it with black coffee.
I made a coffee cake where the flavour notes of the coffee were blackberries and vanilla so I used blackberry jam with the coffee butter cream with blackberries on top. Worked soo well!
I did this comparison by myself one month ago or so. Usually moka commercial coffee. Last time I used specialty coffee, Colombia pindamo with espresso machine. The thing I was able to notice was a brighter taste of coffee. I am just a normal guy in the beginning of the coffee journey. So I think James would be way more specific when time comes.
Made a tiramisu with real espresso a while back. It was heaps better than any tiramisu I had before that, at least in terms of coffee taste. You probably do want to dail in your machine but the rest of the tiramisu hides any bitter/sourness really well.
Hello James, I always had an issue with the american version and was wondering if coffee cakes should be like that. So thank you for enlightening me. Great recipe, but I simplified it a bit more. I also used espresso shots from my delonghi coffee machine. I topped it with pecans and walnuts. I also went for a single layer rectangular tray 23x32 cm. Oh, and I sprinkled some coffee powder with the dry ingredients (1/4 a teaspoon). Here it is: 1) Whisk the following: -325g flour -16g baking powder - Pinch of coffee powder - Pinch of salt 2) In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer Beat the following until light white-ish and fluffy: 7-8 minutes on high -4 eggs -225g sugar -9g vanilla 3) Then slowly add -225g melted butter -3 shots espresso 4) Beat in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. 5) Pour the mix in a rectangular deep baking pan 23x32cm Top the battery with nuts (optional) 6) Bake @185 c for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
After seeing and wanting to make this cake for the last 3 years I finally got around to making it today. And it was so worth it. The coffee flavour in the cake and buttercream makes this taste so good. The cake itself is so airy and light and moist. But the overall taste is something else. Will definitely make it again. Thanks James!
Just made this! Absolutely delicious. I don't have an electric mixer so whipped the egg whites by hand (didn't manage to get stiff peaks, only a liquid but meringue texture) but it was still delicious and worked well enough. Like James said, "the best coffee cake" does not do it justice. Not only the best coffee cake, but definitely the best cake I (an admittedly very amateur baker) have baked and among the best I've ever tasted. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I made this recipe for Christmas and it was absolutely delightful. Thanks a lot, James! Many decade avid baker and coffee lover, my grandma, absolutely adored it.
James, I love your enthusiasm about everything, not just coffee stuff. Personally, I think you frosted that cake very well, it looks good. Thank you for sharing.
I just made this coffee cake (very slight modifications) and it is(!) delicious and tastes like coffee, especially the fluffy buttercream. Thx for sharing that. I put chopped 70% coco chocolate into the batter and it goes very well with the rest! Amazing cake!
At one point I did a coffee cake with 4 30ml shots of espresso. It took longer to bake than expected but ultimately enough liquid evaporated to set the cake - just. The cake stayed light and moist and had a lovely coffee flavour.
In kings land, Queen Victoria sponge is just cake that tastes like Queen Victoria. In England, Queen Victoria sponge is just bland cake that you eat with Queen Victoria...
I made it using the all-in-and-mix method (although my espresso wasn't as strong as it could have been). Works very well, and gives a slightly denser sponge, which I like for the comforting taste of coffee. Also removes a lot of the labour. GMS gives - in my opinion - a plastic and unpleasant texture that always makes shop-bought cake less enjoyable than home-made.
Just finished making this (admittedly with a strong aeropress rather than espresso) and it's just incredible - especially the coffee buttercream, a great addition to any cake really!
I am a coffee junkie (dislike instant with a passion), also I bake cakes (used to make a living from it) and I always use freshly made espresso and with a chocolate cake I use some too, it enriches the flavour. Very interesting as always James xx
As an American who was classically trained in patisserie and baking, I highly protest the remark about American coffee cake. When made with love and attention, it's just so good. Especially with coffee. I imagine you just didn't have it made by someone who cared to make it well.
Don’t look at us, we didn’t invent the coffee cake or kaffekuchen, talk to them +gesticulates at Germany Austria and Scandinavia+ they brought it over here! We’re just keeping up the traditions.
You should try the Finnish "mokkapalat" recipe! It is beyond delicious and usually uses light roast drip coffee. Basically a chocolate sponge cake with coffee frosting. But it is a real treat!
This video genuinely made me smile. Seeing how satisfied your were with your creation. Being able to share it with everyone and encouraging then to try it. I love it. I will definitely make one of my own as soon as I get an espresso machine. Can't wait to try it!
I really enjoy baking, and for a while, I have wanted to make a cake with good coffee flavor for a dear friend of mine. I think this just might be that cake! Im grateful for these recipes, as someone who loves coffee and also loves baking and other things, I've never found recipes that pay as much detail to little things like coffee or ingredients as yours and I love that!
Thanks for this treat James. Having baked more than a few cakes in my career I'm happy to say your cake knowledge and skills are far better than most. We made a Mocha cake that was popular. Powdwewd cocoa and instant coffee usually. Very nice were coffee bean shaped chocolate morsels. Delicious dark chocolate infused with coffee. Used them to garnish each slice.
My mom grew up in New Jersey in the US, and she always talks about mocha cakes she would get as a kid- a yellow cake with coffee buttercream. I’ve spent years trying to recreate the recipe, which has been a challenge since no instant espresso has made the cut. I managed to find a way to include liquid coffee into the buttercream with a lot of success, but I’m excited to try butter infusion to see if I can increase the coffee flavor even more!
Should have been a trigger warning. Coffee cake in the bin?? Tbh, I’m sure you could wrap it up for a person who’s unhoused. Or maybe they don’t exist in the UK??
I watch a ton of British baking shows & recently made my first coffee cake and was VERY confused when there was no coffee in it. I re-read multiple times thinking I must’ve missed an ingredient 🤣 I’m excited for this video!
A few quick comments I wanted to add:
- I shouldn't have thrown the cake in the bin like that. Food waste is a massive issue, and regardless of being unable to share that cake with anyone, and unable to eat it myself - it going in the bin shouldn't have made it to the final video. My own waste around video productions is a concern, and this was just stupid. I apologise.
- I'm also not trying to throw shade at other food TH-camrs. The point was that a more technical approach to coffee brewing rarely intersects with a more technical approach to food. I'm sure the Babish espresso was good, it's just of a different style than I was trying to illustrate here - and generally you tend to see that larger, weaker style of espresso brewed on food channels, rather than shorter stronger espressos.
- I'm sorry this wasn't the Tiramisu video. (Or the Aeropress video, or even the Clever Dripper video.) I will get there, but Tiramisu will definitely be next year now. One day I will learn the lesson about not talking about videos before I'm actually making them.
Tiramisu is a HUGE thing for me and it kills me how ppl settle for instant expresso. You can extract such a deep, beautiful flavor with other blends. Looking forward to ur video!
I think people are majorly overreacting to the Babish nod, it was quite clear what you were trying to communicate. People seem to have a bit of an unfair expectation of you to be almost inhumanly unpartisan. Good grief!
Nothing gets me more angry than presenting a weak espresso on Flair in a video.
So glad you addressed the throwing away off the cake. Please consider re editing to take out that part, even with the apology, it is unbearably galling.
@@taylor-ruth. is it some other worldly expectation though that as you spend time editing in clips from other channels for the express purpose of highlighting how they're doing stuff badly or wrong that you'd reflect for a moment and be like "huh, maybe I can make this point without directly referencing other people trying to make a living and doing their best and instead, just say that pulling weaker shots is something to avoid" like the bar is almost on the floor...
To be fair, in Britain teacakes don't taste of tea.
Hahahah massively underrated comment
Good one.
A teacake is designed to be served with tea, not tasting of tea. You do, however, get such a thing as a tea loaf, which calls for the sultanas/raisins to be marinated in tea before adding to the batter. Also lovely alongside tea! ☺️🫖☕️
I love all the food and drink quirkiness from area to area, country to country. 😂🤣
@@neoreoscar27 same thing with american coffee cakes.
@@wesleymatthews6356 yes! You eat it while drinking good coffee. No need to put cake in my coffee and no need to put coffee in my cake (but that is better than cake in my coffee).
A nice thing we did in the bakery was make a coffee soak: Espresso + light simple syrup, place it into a bottle and drizzle or spray it onto the cake after baking. Gives it a LOT of flavor.
That sounds lovely. Do you remember the specs?
@@tristandonohoe1732 unfortunately I don't remember the exact recipe but think about making a really good shot (or 3) of espresso and sweetening it with simple syrup like you would for a drink.
You just want it ever so diluted to not take away from the coffee but also thin enough to not have huge pockets of espresso poured onto the cake
doing this might have allowed him to add a bit more coffee flavor to the buttercream. but james is right, a lot of the time the buttercream or mousse or whatever else has the dominant role and the sponge is basically just there to be able to call it cake.
What's also nice instead of buttercream is a whipped cream made from cream, eggyolk, espresso and sugar.
Ohhhhh almost like Tiramisu
I'm not going to roast or mock James about his icing skills, but that he ate the cake in a bowl.
When he did this I actually gagged
Haha, I had the same thought 😁
"roast" hah!!! Cause coffee
why are we somehow collectively irritated by that? I love it, so petty haha
I mean who eats cake in a bowl
I was really expecting him to send the unused cake to a Patreon supporter.
😂😂😂 me too!
Oh god. I audibly snorted from laughing. That is gold!
I mean he could always pull it out the bin........
Okay yeah no don’t do that,
Same here. 😂
This is beyond funny. First, thank you. Second, marry me. Third, I wish you all a next-year in which we dial down the outrage and dial up the wit. It's a much more potent force, and certainly goes better with coffee.
Worked as a professional baker for two years before starting my own business, and one thing we did with coffee cake to add a nice compliment to the sponge, was a cardamom meringue for a Turkish coffee direction.
See, this is why losing weight is so damn hard. 😭
Would you still have the recipe?
*eats half a cake*
"It's important to do thorough testing"
Well... can't argue with that!
My kinda guy
Hello, James! I made this tonight. It was labor-intensive, but worth it: very tasty. I was initially skeptical at how much butter (proportionally) goes into the buttercream, but I'm pleasantly surprised at how the end result isn't overpoweringly buttery. Rather, the coffee-infused butter provides a butterscotch essence, in addition to a distinct coffee taste, and it's just sweet enough. I was also shocked at how light and fluffy this buttercream turned out. That's a nice change of pace from traditional thick, overly sugary buttercream. The cake is really pleasant: soft texture with subtle coffee flavor. We don't have an espresso machine here at home, so I used 90g of strong pour-over coffee (George Howell Coffee Co. "Guduba" light roast from Ethiopia), which appears to have worked well. For the infusing process, I used Coava's "Mr. David Mburu" beans, which I think made for an excellent flavor. Thanks for introducing us to true coffee cake!
Once you've tried Swiss meringue buttercream, you'll not want to go back to the American style (butter + icing sugar)
OMG yes. I am so tired of people that are trying to make some coffee related desserts and caring about every single product to be premium quality EXCEPT the coffee itself.
While you’re right that coffee cakes in the U.S. aren’t coffee flavored, good ones aren’t bland and tasteless. They’re designed to enhance coffee (or to be enhanced by coffee). A really good coffee cake in the U.S. is moist and cinnamony - often with a nutty crumbly topping that gives the cake just a bit of crunch.
Or there are the ones from my local bakery that have a flaky croissant-like texture with a maple walnut icing. Unbelievably good with hot rich coffee in the morning.
Your cake would be a delicious dessert and I’m sure I’d love it. But it would not be my choice of cake to have WITH my coffee.
Agreed. I do find it interesting as well that he admitted Coffee flavored coffee cake is a pretty low bar as well. I would guess, as the guy who made a video titles "Stop putting coffee in everything", he would prefer a delicious cake designed to pair well with quality brewed coffee.
Yeah, I think the problem is calling it coffee cake, makes no sense, since it has no coffee in it.
@@JCRaptorGene What? that's beside the issue anyway.
It's the usual american issue with names... "football" much? Or "insert sport name" World Series (what world?)...always wondered why:
I concluded that the hubris of the average american makes him go like "heh...name's weird? No problem, I'll just bend reality to match it, 'murica style".
@@varieedeventualii What are you angry about? What is besides the issue? Actually, what was the "issue" in the first place?
BTW: I agree with you about 'Football' and 'World Series'.
@@Scaff666 yes, it makes no sense. But also, teacakes are a thing in Britain, and they don't have tea in them - they're just bready things with fruit in (or without fruit, in some parts of Yorkshire, or a completely different chocolatey-marshmallow thing in Scotland). In any case all things you eat with tea. (Or for tea, perhaps).
"Its warm and comforting and friendly and everything that is good in life. " James Hoffmann's first take probably.
"warm, comforting and friendly" Sums James Hoffman videos up. 😂
Hey James! I'm a musician and actor based in Los Angeles and wanted to let you know that I've been a huge fan of your channel for quite some time. As a fellow coffee enthusiast, your videos and tips definitely helped me destress during quarantine (even made my Moka Pot Cafecito recipe stronger!). Love to see you branch into coffee based desserts I think this is a natural direction for your content. Keep doing what you do, man! Your expertise is greatly needed and always appreciated.
Me yesterday: I'm going to diet until Thanksgiving
James Hoffmann:
Make it for Thanksgiving!
Make it next Thanksgiving.
Thank You so very much! I am American, and I've been searching for most of my adult life for a real coffee tasting, coffee cake! You are right in that coffee cake like I know it, tastes like cake with cinnamon on top....that is it.
I bake daily and have done some coffee cakes in the last few months. I find that espresso curd - literally a lemon curd made with coffee instead of lemon juice - is a phenomenal filling! A huge hit at my house. Also - as far as cake decorating is concerned - try an offset cake decorating spatula rather than a straight blade spatula. It works wonders! That's what we used on my wedding cake that we made last month!
I love when you can just feel the passion someone has for something. Honestly just makes me happy.
We need James on the next Great British Bake off.
OMG YES!!!!
This would please me
Even the worst contestants are really good bakers, he might be able to get through day one.
I’d personally rather see him on as a guest introducing special ingredients.
@@genericwannabe I said a guest judge. “Coffee challenge with James Hoffman” He’s the perfect balance between Paul and Prue
Let's not think small here guys, let's think big. James doesn't need to appear on a TV programme already in place, James deserves his own TV programme all to himself!
Generally powedered coffee is used for two reasons; it’s pretty ubiquitous, and 2, it doesn’t add too much liquid.
For quite a while coffee cake was made with a coffee concentrate, ie Camp or Irel. That may be something to explore.
One of the benefits of baking sweet cakes/sponges with a sourdough base is that one adds a liquid anyway, and acidity works with the sourdough and bread soda as the raising agent.
I’ll share my base recipe if anyone wants it. I’ll certainly be trying a coffee variation very soon.
I'm curious, could you please share the recipe?
Me, seeing that James is using a Sage stand mixer:
"Of course he would."
Same. Then the Sage oven.
Is Hobart too mom like.
Oh, I totally thought the oven was a Breville! Looks just like mine.
@@surkh Sage is just the British (and elsewhere probably) brand name of Breville. Same exact products.
@@vp5429 safe is not US build... all China..
Do you send someone else to buy instant coffee or wear a disguise?
😀😀😀😀😀😀
Have you seen his Car Coffee video? Obviously he goes in disguise.
@@theonlydiego1 That 'tash is to die for ...
He goes as Hames Joffman
Everyone: AEROPRESS! AEROPRESS! AEROPRESS!
James: Did you say you want the ultimate coffee cake recipe?
Everyone: ... Yeah, sure, that does sound good...
What's he planning for the Aeropress?
@@PurpScurpington Ultimate Aeropress technique
Yep, used our Aeropress for the espresso. But I'm not clear about the amount of espresso to be used. The recipe linked above says 90 grams (10% strength). So, 90 grams is equivalent to 3.1 ounces of dry weight or 1/3 cup of liquid espresso. Is that 3.1 ounces of espresso grounds brewed with 3-4 ounces of water? Or a shot of espresso which is just shy of 1/3 cup of espresso? And what does 10% strength mean. If you dilute a shot with too much water that's all you end up with...coffee colored water?
Here's one for you folks: always use aeropress coffee for baking. Just account for it as "water" when the original recipe calls for instant powder.
I won’t mind more videos on coffee desserts. Those will be wholesome
It was my first cake I've ever made and it was delicious! There were also some issues I had to work on, but in general, my family and I were delighted.
You didn't tell us how the GMS improved the final cake, I was really waiting for a comment about it at the end.
Yes, I wonder if you can leave that out.
As an Adam Ragusea viewer, I'm also wondering how GMS compares to modified corn starch.
(featured in this video: th-cam.com/video/4Sjv3LRVubo/w-d-xo.html )
These intros getting better and better every time!
I agree with James: I care more about the flavor than the appearance. I will have to try this cake. 😋
I made this recipe for thanksgiving and I think I can say without a doubt it turned out to be the best coffee cake I have ever had. I learn't a few things which I would like to share
1. If your making coffee butter on the stove top dont walk away even if its on the lowest setting it can suddenly start boiling and you can burn your butter, your very likely going to have to move it on and off the stovetop and whisk constantly.
2. Most cake recipes use too much sugar however don't skimp out on the sugar in this recipe it is actually perfect.
3. While heating your egg whites to make the meringue stir constantly and uniformly and keep your water bath on a gentle simmer, also keep your stand mixer ready so you can immediately start whisking. Also it can take a lot longer than 10 minutes to form stiff peaks(took closer to 30 minutes for me), I think factors like humidity affect this.
4. I din't have GMS and I did not wan't to buy something to keep in my pantry which I would eventually throw away so I skipped that.
5. The cake sponges get dry really quick in the refrigerator so if you really want to impress I would bake it 2-3 hours before you plan to consume.
If you love coffee, and like cake I promise you this cake doesn't disappoint.
You can put a thin layer of the butter cream around the sides of the cake too if you want to hold it in the fridge ahead of serving. That will help prevent drying out.
Thanks James. For the first time in months, someone talking about two and three tiers has made me smile rather than want to board up my windows.
It seems like James wanted to make Cake, but he felt like he was cheating on Coffee, so he introduced Coffee to Cake.
You really can't go wrong with a recipe from Queen Stella. Proud of you.
American coffee cake shouldn't be bland if it's made right, it's a spice cake! It's called coffee cake because you eat it with coffee, which traditionally is had after your supper (though I'm amazed that people used to be able to drink coffee after dinner then just go to bed)
In my italian family we still have an espresso after dinner and honestly I dont know how we do it. Caffeine is just part of my daily chemical cycle.
Good American coffee cake is definitely not something to be ashamed of.
I've fallen asleep with mostly empty coffee cups in my hand... More than once.
Me too i often get sleepy after drinking coffee
I have been baking coffee cakes for years now and I have used Camp coffee every time and they are delicious. I have won prizes for them too. Same goes for the butter cream. The cake is made with all in one method. So quick and easy.
7:36 "I have no idea why people aren't adding well-brewed espresso to this recipe"
*After using espresso from a $2000+ grinder and $2000+ espresso machine*
Next up: Hand grinder, flair, no mixer, and fire box. The ultimate hipster acousticake! Closing footage: Bripe in the woods with the cake.
thank you for making these videos, they have been providing so much comfort during a really hard time for me ♡♡♡
As soon as I saw this I ducked out of a livestream, brewed a cup, and came back. ALSO! Coffee cake story: when I was a student and trying to survive as a musician I relied a lot of the food put out at university recitals to pad out my meals. I started doing studio work and the wife of the studio runner is an amazing home chef. One early recording day she had made american coffee cake. It was absolutely divine. A fluffy, moist, and delicate cake flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. The topping was rich and buttery and crisp. Nothing I’ve had elsewhere has come close. And I don’t know why I never thought a coffee cake could be a COFFEE cake and not a cake served with coffee.
If you want - I'll come get you, and together we can go find HER - and then proceed to beg her to make us that very cake!!!
It would be worth every mile.♡
Your skirting of the line of pretentiousness and inspirational, interesting and engaging whilst dipping your toe in self deprecating is a work of art! Loved this video for some reason. Really spoke to me.
That's what you need to be a world-class barista
Hi James, I'm an American (North Eastern Specifically). Coffee cake as I've grown up with it, is a cake that is meant to be enjoyed specifically with coffee and one that amplifies and enhances the flavor of the coffee. Mostly cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. It's always been a dense cake locally, so you take a bite of this dense, buttery cinnamon / sugar cake, and the lingering spices and butter mix with a sip of coffee and elevate each other.
I think that is the objective of a "coffee cake". Its not to make a mediocre cake that tastes kind of like coffee, its to enhance the experience of eating the cake as well as drinking the coffee. (this is 100% just my unresearched opinion, and how 1 passionate fat man feels about cake / coffee).
I'm a bit worried about British Baby Powder or Baby Oil...
James: This video is sponsored by..
Me: Squaresp...
James: Surfshark!
Me:......??
I really love the ultra moist chocolate cake with beetroot and two espresso by nigel slater, its in his book "tender". its definately a lovely coffee flavoured cake.
This is interesting that you managed to make coffee cake that tastes like coffee cake.
I work in the field of flavour and actually keeping the coffee flavour in a baked good is very difficult.
The aroma of coffee comes from hundreds of smell chemicals but the most important is called 2-furfurylthiol. This sulphur-compound on its own smells so distinctly of coffee and without it, coffee is not the same.
This compound is produced during the roasting (maillard chemistry) of coffee beans but is not thermally stable enough to undergo more heating (like baking in a cake).
Therefore I ask; does the coffee 'taste' like coffee because of the aroma of the cake or is it purely from the bitterness of coffee?
Wikipedia has the boiling point ar 311F. I wonder if you could keep it around by baking at 300 instead?
@marathon664 I'm not an expert nor a baker, but you could probably make cupcakes at around that temperature and it be ok but I think a cake might be too big and the inside wouldn't cook properly.
@@isocle the internal temp of the cake should never reach too much above 200F even in an oven much hotter than that.
Just make the cake.
Any time James says "ultimate" and "coffee" in the same sentence I know what's coming will be absolutely epic.
My wife and I had a coffee cake for our wedding. It turned out to be the British kind, with frosting that tasted like straight butter. It wasn't what we had hoped.
a sentence of praise: i really like that you penetrated the idea of infusing oil with coffee. that's an awesome research you did, and it yields really valuable results. i love it already. i am a bit fascinated by the idea of extraction. not specifically for coffee but basically anything. broth. tea. spices.
the only thing I'm wondering is what can you do with the cooked coffee beans afterwards?
@@chataclysm2112 well since the flavor is extracted - probably the same what you do with the coffee powder which lands in your filters
I was thinking if I made this I'd make a browned butter infused with a coarsely ground good coffee for the cake sponges. Susan Spungen has a recipe where she does this for a biscuit (Dirty Chai Earthquake Cookies) and the browned butter adds a wonderful additional dimension. Much less of an issue to have a few fines in the sponge than in the buttercream.
@@fionaclaphamhoward5876 good idea, but you need to be incredibly attentive, since butter burns very easily and it's hard to tell when it has the right state if you mix it with black coffee.
I made a coffee cake where the flavour notes of the coffee were blackberries and vanilla so I used blackberry jam with the coffee butter cream with blackberries on top. Worked soo well!
I would like to do this comparison with Tiramisu
My mother always makes this with coffee we get from Bialetti and it's nice.
Oo yeah. James should make the the ultimate tiramisu
I did this comparison by myself one month ago or so. Usually moka commercial coffee. Last time I used specialty coffee, Colombia pindamo with espresso machine. The thing I was able to notice was a brighter taste of coffee. I am just a normal guy in the beginning of the coffee journey. So I think James would be way more specific when time comes.
Made a tiramisu with real espresso a while back. It was heaps better than any tiramisu I had before that, at least in terms of coffee taste. You probably do want to dail in your machine but the rest of the tiramisu hides any bitter/sourness really well.
I made tiramisu with espresso and never will go back to plain coffee or powdered coffees again. It was mind blowing lol amazing!!
Hello James,
I always had an issue with the american version and was wondering if coffee cakes should be like that. So thank you for enlightening me. Great recipe, but I simplified it a bit more. I also used espresso shots from my delonghi coffee machine. I topped it with pecans and walnuts. I also went for a single layer rectangular tray 23x32 cm. Oh, and I sprinkled some coffee powder with the dry ingredients (1/4 a teaspoon).
Here it is:
1) Whisk the following:
-325g flour
-16g baking powder
- Pinch of coffee powder
- Pinch of salt
2) In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer
Beat the following until light white-ish and fluffy: 7-8 minutes on high
-4 eggs
-225g sugar
-9g vanilla
3) Then slowly add
-225g melted butter
-3 shots espresso
4) Beat in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
5) Pour the mix in a rectangular deep baking pan 23x32cm
Top the battery with nuts (optional)
6) Bake @185 c for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
BRB putting up “there’s only one way to find out” quote on the wall over my coffee set up😂 truly an inspirational quote!
Now I want a poster with that!!
After seeing and wanting to make this cake for the last 3 years I finally got around to making it today. And it was so worth it. The coffee flavour in the cake and buttercream makes this taste so good. The cake itself is so airy and light and moist. But the overall taste is something else. Will definitely make it again. Thanks James!
Who else is Jealous of all the toys sitting on James' counter?
Just made this! Absolutely delicious. I don't have an electric mixer so whipped the egg whites by hand (didn't manage to get stiff peaks, only a liquid but meringue texture) but it was still delicious and worked well enough. Like James said, "the best coffee cake" does not do it justice. Not only the best coffee cake, but definitely the best cake I (an admittedly very amateur baker) have baked and among the best I've ever tasted. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
"It's not about the look, it's about the eating" Amen
I made this recipe for Christmas and it was absolutely delightful. Thanks a lot, James! Many decade avid baker and coffee lover, my grandma, absolutely adored it.
last time i was this early this wasn't a baking channel
Oh how the turntables.
James, I love your enthusiasm about everything, not just coffee stuff. Personally, I think you frosted that cake very well, it looks good. Thank you for sharing.
"That's what we do here. We *care* about the coffee flavour" on a tshirt, asap.
seconded.
Yes!
Take my money!
The joy in James' face when he tried the final form of the cake made me smile. Almost makes me want to take up baking :D
I had no idea British coffee cake tasted like coffee. Mind blown.
3fe are wonderful people and their coffee is superb nice to hear them getting a mention
I love Babish, but James roasting his espresso was a great moment.
i came here to say this!
To be fair to Babish, the shot James used was Babish demonstrating not grinding fine enough. He did a more proper shot after that.
"roasting his espresso" is so beautifully said
@@ram434 True th-cam.com/video/W-osWU1WJuM/w-d-xo.html
I just made this coffee cake (very slight modifications) and it is(!) delicious and tastes like coffee, especially the fluffy buttercream. Thx for sharing that. I put chopped 70% coco chocolate into the batter and it goes very well with the rest!
Amazing cake!
American coffee cake is so dang good, it has a top layer of divine crunchy clouds. Fight me.
“Will taste again”. Yeah, yeah, you like cake! What a great guy.
Seing James upload a cake video on my birthday is a very strange kind of awesome
Happy birthday!
The way I tell people when it comes to baking, it's not about the looks of the cake or whatever you're making, it's about the personality of it!
"That's what you want coffee to be when it shows up in desserts." You're seriously my favorite to watch. Hilarious!
At one point I did a coffee cake with 4 30ml shots of espresso. It took longer to bake than expected but ultimately enough liquid evaporated to set the cake - just. The cake stayed light and moist and had a lovely coffee flavour.
He's just teasing us with the grinders in the background, first the lagom now the levercraft.... I need that video asap
He said will do the ultimate grinder comparison on discord, seriously excited
I once tried this coffee and orange cake and I kid you jot, I’ve never had anything better IN MY LIFE
Been making tiramisu with real espresso not instant for years. All i can say is wow. So much better. Good job with the sponge.😎👍👍👍
Heston, Grant, and James - what a great combination - thank you so much.
This is the opposite of that "Oh no" from that centrifuge taste.
Idk who chooses the songs on your videos, but they're so lovely ^^
In kings land, Queen Victoria sponge is just cake that tastes like Queen Victoria. In England, Queen Victoria sponge is just bland cake that you eat with Queen Victoria...
I made it using the all-in-and-mix method (although my espresso wasn't as strong as it could have been). Works very well, and gives a slightly denser sponge, which I like for the comforting taste of coffee. Also removes a lot of the labour. GMS gives - in my opinion - a plastic and unpleasant texture that always makes shop-bought cake less enjoyable than home-made.
This is turning into Nigella. All you need now are the suggestive looks to camera.
omg imagine if nigella streams on twitch. Imagine the simps!
I'm not seduced enough. And there's no midnight raids of the fridge.
Nigella’s so hot. The stuff of my childhood dreams. And by childhood, I mean late 20s, early 30s. You’re good too James - keep up the good work.
@@doylega same here except, for me it was the teen years of my existence, so the more psychologically impressionable era.
It would be sooo funny if James takes your suggestion. I'm looking forward to the next vid. 😄
Just finished making this (admittedly with a strong aeropress rather than espresso) and it's just incredible - especially the coffee buttercream, a great addition to any cake really!
I am a coffee junkie (dislike instant with a passion), also I bake cakes (used to make a living from it) and I always use freshly made espresso and with a chocolate cake I use some too, it enriches the flavour. Very interesting as always James xx
What a delicious looking cake! These are two of my favorite things coffee and cake, but the fact that the coffee is in the cake makes it even better!!
Is it just me, or does anyone else have a sudden urge for coffee ice cream video after this one?
As an American who was classically trained in patisserie and baking, I highly protest the remark about American coffee cake. When made with love and attention, it's just so good. Especially with coffee. I imagine you just didn't have it made by someone who cared to make it well.
Lots of chocolate cake recipes call for hot coffee. Most don't call for espresso because most people don't have an espresso machine.
Try an Aeropress. Makes great espresso.
Don’t look at us, we didn’t invent the coffee cake or kaffekuchen, talk to them +gesticulates at Germany Austria and Scandinavia+ they brought it over here! We’re just keeping up the traditions.
This is the most scientific and overcomplicated baking tutorial of all time. And I love everything about it
I've just found this channel, and i'm loving it. James is the Brian Cox of coffee.
“That’s what we do here. We care about coffee flavor”
Like
Decorating with bean shaped chocolate and little bit grated vanilla! What more delicious coffee sidekicks!
When you said food scientist, I was expecting Ann Reardon, but Chefsteps is good too
There are two kinds of TH-cam channels i watch. Food TH-camrs and tech TH-camrs. And there is James Hoffman. Great video!
You should try the Finnish "mokkapalat" recipe!
It is beyond delicious and usually uses light roast drip coffee.
Basically a chocolate sponge cake with coffee frosting. But it is a real treat!
This video genuinely made me smile. Seeing how satisfied your were with your creation. Being able to share it with everyone and encouraging then to try it. I love it. I will definitely make one of my own as soon as I get an espresso machine. Can't wait to try it!
Hey James thought it might be cool if you tried homebrewing a coffee stout.
That's a dangerous ask as there is just so many technical details with brew. More so than coffee.
I really enjoy baking, and for a while, I have wanted to make a cake with good coffee flavor for a dear friend of mine. I think this just might be that cake! Im grateful for these recipes, as someone who loves coffee and also loves baking and other things, I've never found recipes that pay as much detail to little things like coffee or ingredients as yours and I love that!
"Still not a ton of coffee flavor though... I should double check."
Thanks for this treat James. Having baked more than a few cakes in my career I'm happy to say your cake knowledge and skills are far better than most. We made a Mocha cake that was popular. Powdwewd cocoa and instant coffee usually. Very nice were coffee bean shaped chocolate morsels. Delicious dark chocolate infused with coffee. Used them to garnish each slice.
Hey James, your cake decorations are... rustic
My mom grew up in New Jersey in the US, and she always talks about mocha cakes she would get as a kid- a yellow cake with coffee buttercream. I’ve spent years trying to recreate the recipe, which has been a challenge since no instant espresso has made the cut. I managed to find a way to include liquid coffee into the buttercream with a lot of success, but I’m excited to try butter infusion to see if I can increase the coffee flavor even more!
“Into the bin” I respect James’s cutthroat nature. He can easily be a guest judge on The Great British Bake Off
Should have been a trigger warning. Coffee cake in the bin??
Tbh, I’m sure you could wrap it up for a person who’s unhoused. Or maybe they don’t exist in the UK??
@@hopegold883 during a pandemic? Not likely a good idea.
@@hopegold883 ... the homeless know better than to accept direct food donations, especially when it’s not in a sealed package.
@@hopegold883 lol a trigger warning. And homeless in the UK aren't typically in need of a saviour Marie Antoinette
It's just so much fun to watch someone so passionate about something! Thanks for the uplift.
i see coffee, i see cake .... i click fast !!!
I watch a ton of British baking shows & recently made my first coffee cake and was VERY confused when there was no coffee in it. I re-read multiple times thinking I must’ve missed an ingredient 🤣 I’m excited for this video!
Claire Saffitz has a wonderful recipe for coffee-flavored, American-style coffee cake! It’s delicious, highly recommend