Coffee cake with caramel meringue buttercream and caramel chips

This is a recipe I've adapted. Credit for the original cake recipe goes to the lovely ladies at Exclusively Food and the icing is based on a Martha Stewart one.

Coffee buttercake

• 225g (1 1/2 cups) self-raising flour
• 75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
• 150g butter, chopped and softened (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon fine table salt with the butter)
• 226g (1 cup) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5ml) vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
• 83g (1/3 cup) sour cream (about 35 percent fat)
• 83ml (1/3 cup) milk
• 83 ml (1/3 cup) hot water
• 2 teaspoons of instant coffee

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Celsius fan-forced).

Grease the side and base of a 20cm diameter (top inside measurement) round cake pan.

Combine self-raising flour and plain flour in a medium bowl and set aside.

Combine the hot water and coffee until it is dissolved. Then add the milk.

Using an electric mixer or electric hand-held beaters on low speed, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl.

Increase speed to medium once the sugar is incorporated. Stop the machine once or twice during beating to scrape down the side and base of the bowl with a spatula. Beat the mixture until it is pale and creamy (about five minutes).

Add eggs one at a time, beating about a minute between each addtion.

Don't rush the addition of the eggs as the mixture will be more likely to separate and develop a curdled

Add the sour cream and beat until just combined (about 10 seconds).

Make sure you're scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time.

Sift half the combined flours over the butter mixture. Add half the milk mixture and, with the machine on very low speed, beat for about 10 seconds until just incorporated. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Add the remaining milk and sift in the remaining flour and beat, on very low speed, for 5-10 seconds to combine the ingredients. Stop beating as soon as the ingredients are combined as over-beating the mixture may cause the cake to be tough.

Spoon mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Bake for about 1 hour and 7 minutes to 1 hour and 17 minutes, or until a thin-bladed knife or wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed in the centre.

Place pan on a wire rack. When cake has completely cooled, remove from pan.

Caramel Meringue Butter cream

• 3 large egg whites
• 1  cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

Put egg whites, sugar, and salt into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until mixture registers 160 degrees, about 4 minutes.

Beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating after each addition (meringue will deflate slightly as butter is added). Don't be freaked out by the curdled appearance, it will get better.

Beat until frosting is smooth and glossy, 3 to 5 minutes.

I like to serve this with some caramel bits on top. Just put 3-4 table spoons of brown sugar into a small saucepan and when it's all melted I pour it onto some baking paper and leave to harden. When it's hardened the caramel can be broken up into shards and placed on the cake for some tasty treats.