This Coffee Flavored Cake is delicious and simple. If you are looking for an easy cake to make for a birthday party or celebration, this recipe is for you.
For most Colombians, no day begins without coffee (cafecito), while no meal ends without it, and it’s offered to guests any time of the day. We drink it black or with milk, the latter we call 'café con leche'. I can’t imagine starting a day without coffee! I love just about any food and drink with coffee flavor.
Considering how much I love coffee, I'm surprised that I’ve not posted a recipe for this cake until now. Finally, I've made my own version of mamita’s Torta de Café (coffee flavored cake) and it is absolutely delicious!
In Colombia, we often use coffee to make traditional desserts, cocktails, cakes and savory dishes.
This Torta de Café (Coffee Flavored Cake) was one of a variety of regular desserts that were served at my grandma’s house on Sunday afternoons and holidays. You could usually count on one of the following desserts: arroz con leche, plátanos calados, brevas caladas, torta negra, or this Torta de Café, among a few others.
I topped and filled this coffee flavored cake with a frosting made with cream, instant coffee and shaved chocolate, which worked out very well. If you adore coffee as much as I do, then you’re going to love this cake!
What you Need to Make this Coffee Flavored Cake
You will will find the printable recipe card with exact ingredients amounts and directions below.
Flour: You need all purpose flour to make this cake.
Baking powder: Be sure the baking powder is fresh to ensure the cake rises.
Milk: I recommend using whole milk for this recipe.
Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter and leave it at room temperature for a while.
Eggs: at room temperature
Vanilla extract: Use a good quality vanilla extract. You will need it for the cake and the frosting.
Sugar: Granulated Sugar.
Coffee: Use a good quality strong coffee for this recipe.
Frosting: Heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, instant coffee, grated sweet chocolate.
Torta de Café Recipe (Coffee Flavored Cake)
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup of whole milk
- 8 oz 2 sticks of butter
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of VERY strong coffee
Frosting
- 2 cups very cold heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons Instant Coffee
- 1 cup grated or shave sweet chocolate divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Grease and lightly flour 2 (9-inch) round cake dishes.
- In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
- In a small pot heat the milk and butter, remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue mixing for 5 minutes more. Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture, butter mixture, coffee and vanilla extract and mix for 1 more minute.
- Pour the batter into two baking dishes and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 10 min. Invert cakes onto wire racks, gently remove pans. Cool the cakes completely.
- In a large bowl the heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, instant coffee and 6 tablespoons of shaved chocolate. Beat until the cream holds soft peaks.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate, spreading ½ of the frosting on top, place the other cake layer on top and spread the top with remaining frosting.
- Add the remaining shaved chocolate on top of the cake. Eat immediately or keep frosted cake refrigerated until ready to eat.
Nutrition
This coffee flavored cake is perfect for the coffee lover in your life. This is one of those feel-good desserts that makes you feel warm and cozy inside, proving that food doesn’t have to be fancy to be good. I hope you enjoy my grandmother’s Torta de Café!
grace
your cake looks so moist and its crumb is so perfect that it probably doesn't even need frosting! glad it's there though .:)
Jo
Hi, sorry for the silly question but, the cup of coffee is brewed coffee or the ground coffee straight out of the bag? Thank you!
Philippa
Very strong brewed coffee. I have changed this recipe a bit. Much less sugar. For half the recipe quantity 430g and I changed the sugar to a soft brown. For me this is nicer. Good luck.
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz
Wow look really good Erica!
Lili
I made it yesterday and it was very good!
Phil
Mine turned out delicious, but HEAVY and sort of wet...
Mandy
I have just made this. It is such an easy recipe that I wasn't expecting it to be as nice as it was. In fact, My husband claims it is the best cake I have ever made. This recipe is a keeper...thank you for posting.
Tonya
I made this today for my mothers birthday. Tiramisu is one of her favorite desserts and this was a great replacement. Much easier to make then tiramisu. Both elements are great on their own but the deeply layered favors of the frosting together with this moist cake, it was delicious!
Mary
My son wanted a coffee flavored cake for his birthday but I couldn't find what I wanted; most recipes were too chocolatey. Then I happened upon your site and this cake. It was exactly what I was looking for and it came out great. This is a beautiful, elegant cake and the flavors are just wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing!
Anonymous
Is it hot coffee? Or room temp?
Erica Dinho
Room temp.
June
Hi! I would like to make this today. Is the coffee at room temperature? Or hot? What about the butter and milk mixture? Cool temp? Or hot? Sorry lots of questions.
June
I made the cake and turned out sooo good! The cake is so moist and rich in coffee flavor. This would be my go to coffee flavored cake from now on. Thank you so much!
SheMo
JUST WHAT I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR!!
I lost a recipe for a cake similar to this one & have been trying to find another one ever since!! It's been Years!! This cake is Absolutely Delicious & maybe even better than my lost recipe!!
I made a few minor changes. I added 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecans to the cake batter after dividing the batter up into the 2 pans. Additionally, I didn't have 7 oz of Chocolate, so I used 3 oz. Since I was after a more coffee- flavored cake than a chocolate- flavored one, I thought it was Great the way it turned out!!
Both my husband & I LOVE this cake even if it Is so Rich!! I'll have to refrain from indulging in it too often!!
Philippa Girgin
I haven't made this cake yet but I am wondering about the quantity of sugar. It seems a lot.
Jeanie
Do we use black coffee or coffee with milk and sugar?
Erica Dinho
Black coffee
Renee
How much coffee? 8oz? 10oz? A cup?
a
did u use raw coffee or coffee and water
LeCase COFFEE
Looks sounds good. Thank you for sharing the recipe on how to do the torta de cafe coffee flavored cake. This is great.
Mo
Just had the Last piece of one I made last night & it was Wonderful! I plan to make another for the Holidays. BTW, I added some ground pecans to the batter & cut back some on the chocolate in the topping....
chickrandi
Wow! Great cake and easy to make! Thanks so much for the recipe.
SOUMI BANDYOPADHYAY
Hi!
I like your recipe as it is so simple.
However, I have a question. You said 1 cup coffee. Is it one cup of coffee powder or a cup or brewed coffee?
Looking forward to your reply.
chickrandi
I’m not the expert here but I used one cup of strongly brewed coffee in the cake and a coffee powder for the icing. It turned out perfect! I’m making this for the third time now. My husband keeps requesting it 🙂
Soumi Bandyopadhyay
Thanks a ton! It worked beautifully
Britni
I never write reviews, but I must say, I come back to this recipe every single year. My partner calls this his “birthday cake” and always requests it. Now that we have a kid running around, it can be a lot of work, but I will continue to make this for every one of his birthdays and other special occasions throughout the years. I am not much of a baker, but this recipe is easy to follow as well!
I use bustelo in the percolator for the extra strong coffee and instant vanilla coffee for the icing. I also think I put way more chocolate than called for into the icing haha. But this cake has a really great and rich coffee flavor. yum!
Victoria Kolda
May I use espresso rather than strongly brewed coffee? I only have a Keurig and instant coffee, neither being strong.
Lani
Hi ! I just want to ask if I can turn this wonderful cake of yours into cupcakes? Any suggestions for the oven temperature and baking time? Thanks in advance.
Angela
Hola Erica!
I’m so happy I finally found a real recipe for a torta de café Colombiana. My husband loved it!!!
I followed your recipe, but changed the Coffee frosting, and used a vanilla flavored instead, and topped it off with walnuts to add that crunchiness.
Thanks so much for posting this recipe. I hope you keep posting more!
Karen
I just took it out of the oven and haven’t tried it yet, but it smells wonderful! I was concerned that the batter was very thin and runny though.
Rebecca
Oh my gosh!!! Really good cake. This recipe needs to be all over the internet. Thank you for sharing
Catarina
I think I should have cooled the coffee and the milk/butter mixture. My cake batter was thin and runny and the cake came out think and super dense, almost like it separated during baking. I’ll have to try it again with cooled mixtures.
Lucy
can I halve the recipe if I only want to make it one layer?
nellie
I am confused. It is written 8 oz 2 sticks of butter.
Is it 8 oz of butter
or
is it 2 sticks of butter?
Victoria Kolda
May I use espresso rather than strongly brewed coffee? I only have a Keurig and instant coffee, neither being strong.
Also, could I add crumble to the top of the cake rather than the frosting ? Or would that throw off the recipe? Could I substitute the crumble for the frosting in its entirety?
John
There was so much liquid I never thought it would turn out but it was excellent. I topped it with chopped walnuts.