CAFÈ VENEZIA: COFFEE AND DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH ORANGE ZEST AND COCOA ICING ICING, DECORATED WITH TOASTED FENNEL SEEDS AND AMARETTI COOKIES

CAFÈ VENEZIA: COFFEE AND DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH ORANGE ZEST AND COCOA ICING ICING, DECORATED WITH TOASTED FENNEL SEEDS AND AMARETTI COOKIES

Recipe

To create this recipe I turned to my favourite traditional Italian desserts. A play on Tiramisu, Panettone and Pinza Vineta come together to form a love child, in which the flavours of coffee, chocolate, orange, fennel and cream all come together harmoniously. The Café Venezia is complex and rich, and needs its cake counterpart to compliment its different layers. Orange zest lends a fresh perfume to the creamy icing, while deep chocolate adds boldness and the amaretti crumb on top finishes off each bite with a welcome crunch.

MAKES 8 MINICAKES

FOR THE CAKE

150g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 free range eggs
150g regular flour
50g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt
⅓ cup Nespresso Dharkan extracted as a Ristretto (25ml) and cooled
⅓ cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
Zest of 1 orange
100g dark chocolate buttons, roughly chopped

FOR THE ICING

150g butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
100g cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of ½ an orange
4 tbsp Dutch Process cocoa powder

FOR THE DECORATIONS

1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted
40g amaretti cookies, roughly broken into pieces
8 fresh spray roses or edible flowers

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC fan bake. Grease or line 8 holes of a large muffin tray.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time.
  3. In two parts, mix in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt.
  4. Finally fold through the Nespresso and Greek yogurt. Stop your electric mixer once all the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix.
  5. By hand, stir through the orange zest and chopped chocolate.
  6. Evenly divide the batter between the 8 muffin holes.
  7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden in colour, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
  9. Meanwhile, make the icing. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter by itself until smooth. Add the icing sugar and beat on high until seriously light and fluffy. Gradually add the cream cheese, followed by the vanilla, orange zest and cocoa powder. The icing should be smooth, creamy and thick.
  10. Once the cakes are completely cool, use a piping bag to swirl some icing on top of each one.
  11. Decorate each minicake with chunks of amaretti cookies, toasted fennel seeds and a fresh flower.
  12. Serve at room temperature. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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