Little Coffee Cakes

I made these little coffee cakes at the weekend. They are slightly more 'grown up' because of the coffee flavoured icing. The tops were decorated with chocolate shapes that were made by pouring melted chocolate into Easter molds. You could also just crumble flaked chocolate over the top of the icing.

They were very tasty and lasted all of a couple of hours!

Little Coffee Cakes

100g (4oz) butter (softened)

100g(4oz) caster sugar

2 eggs

100g(4oz) self raising flour

8oz icing sugar

2tsp instant coffee granules

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius (375 degrees F) Mark 5

Stand 18 paper cases in an ungreased bun tin. Warm caster sugar in large ovenproof bowl in oven for a couple of minutes. Remove the bowl from the oven and add the butter. Cream butter and caster sugar together until mixture is pale in colour and light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time adding a spoonful of flour with each one. This should prevent curdling of the mixture. Gently fold in the remaining flour with a metal spoon.

Put spoonfuls of the mixture into the paper cases and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown in colour and well risen. Remove when done and put onto a wire rack to cool.

When completely cold the cakes can be iced. To make the icing dissolve 10ml (2tsp) of instant coffee granules into hot water before adding to the icing sugar. Stir briskly until smooth and thick. You do not want the mixture too runny as it will not sit in nice smooth rounds on top of the cakes.

Before the icing sets, decorate with chocolate shapes.