COFFEE & CARAMEL POKE CAKE

SERVES 10 PREP 20 MINS COOK 45 MINS

175g unsalted butter, softened ¾ cup golden caster sugar 3 eggs ¾ cup almond meal

1/ cup light sour cream 3 ¼ cup black coffee (see tip) 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup self-raising flour ½ tsp baking powder

CARAMEL

¾ cup caster sugar 2 tbsp water ½ cup thickened cream ½ tsp sea salt flakes

GANACHE

200g dark chocolate, chopped 1/ cup thickened cream 3

1 Preheat oven to moderate, 180°C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake pan.

2 In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in almond meal, sour cream, coffee and vanilla. Sift in sifted flour and baking powder, mixing lightly.

3 Spoon into pan, smoothing top. Bake 35-40 mins, until cooked when tested. Cool in pan. Turn onto a wire rack.

4 CARAMEL Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, stir sugar and water on low until dissolved. Increase heat to high. Boil, not stirring, 5 mins until golden. Remove from heat, add cream. Return to low, cook, stirring 2 mins until sauce thickens. Stir in salt. Transfer to a heatproof jug. Cool.

5 GANACHE In a large microwavesafe bowl, combine chocolate and cream. Microwave on Medium (50 per cent) power 2-3 mins, stirring every 30 seconds with a metal spoon until smooth. Set aside at room temperature until thick. Chill until spreadable.

6 Place cake on serving plate. Carefully poke 1cm-diameter holes in cake at 3cm intervals using the end of a wooden spoon. Slowly pour the cooled caramel into each hole.

7 Whisk ganache until thickened. Spread over top of cake.