Coffee Cake with Coffee Cream Cheese Icing

The week after we celebrated D's birthday I received a text from one of his friends requesting more cupcakes.

I originally got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman about 2 years ago

I have received more compliments on this cake than any other cake before or since I made it the first time.

My cousin who does not like cake likes this cake

Oreo crumbs provided a great coffee-like dusting, without over doing it on the coffee flavour!

  

D's Birthday Last Year

I was very proud of the texture on this one, although I couldn't get a good enough picture to show it well.

Our friends who don't like coffee, loved this cake (even though it is very coffee-ee-ee)

This year, D requested the cake again. Of course I can't say no and still maintain best girlfriend ever status, so I made it yet again.

This time I was a smart best girlfriend ever, and baked the cupcakes the night before. Yay for planning ahead!

 The next day I iced them

The color contrast wasn't the greatest with the icing...but I was just so tired at this point, and running out of time to get everything done before his party ...it also got a little melty and smushy. 

But still oh-so-DELICIOUS!

Recipe Comments/Tips:

Tip: To make a substitute for buttermilk, pour 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar into a 1/2 cup, and add milk until full; let stand for 5 minutes before incorporating

Yes, it does seem like a lot of liquid for the cake...but I have never once had a problem with it setting. Trust me on this. Its a smashing good caffeine fix.

I follow the recipe as is on her blog, until I get to the icing. Here I make the following changes:

• I use 3 cups icing sugar
• add about a 1/4-1/2 cup cream cheese 
• a squirt or two of lemon juice to cut a bit of the sweetness
• This time to get the darker, chocolatey icing I added some chocolate syrup from my fridge to a separate bowl the icing, just until it was dark enough for me.

Hope you enjoy this fabulous cake as much as my loved ones have!

Love,
Ern