Full question
My partner wants a super strong coffee-flavoured cake for his birthday - could I add more espresso powder to the cake and frosting of the Chocolate Cake With Coffee Buttercream?
Our answer
Nigella's Chocolate Cake With Coffee Buttercream (from AT MY TABLE) is a one-bowl chocolate cake that is filled and topped with a coffee buttercream. The sponge includes a combination of cocoa powder and espresso powder. The espresso powder does not really impart a coffee flavour to the sponge but enhances the chocolate flavour, as cocoa and coffee contain similar flavour compounds. Boosting the amount of espresso powder probably won't help that much as the flavour of the cocoa will always dominate.
Instead, we would suggest trying Nigella's Coffee And Walnut Layer Cake. The coffee doesn't have to compete with another flavour and the walnuts help to make the cake moist. The sponge contains 4 teaspoons of instant espresso powder and although we think this gives a good coffee flavour, you could increase this a bit (by 1-2 extra teaspoons). The buttercream has a fairly strong coffee flavour, though you could slightly increase the quantity of espresso powder here as well if you want something more intense.
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