Coffee and Mint Cream Cake

Description: This is my final recipe from *The World Encyclopedia of Coffee* ---- Per the intro, Ground almonds give this buttery coffee sponge cake a moist texture & delicate flavour. Then it's sandwiched together w/a generous filling of creme de menthe buttercream." I nearly died & went to heaven when I saw the breathtaking pic! (Time does not include time for cake layers to fully cool). *Enjoy* !

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon fine ground coffee
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water (heated to near-boil temp)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (well-softened)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups self-raising flour (sifted)
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 3 eggs
• icing sugar (to dust top layer of cake)
• of fresh mint (sml sprigs for garnish)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup icing sugar (sifted)
• 2 tablespoons creme de menthe

Steps:

1. For Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly grease & line 2 7-in rd baking tins w/greaseproof paper.
3. Put coffee grounds in a sml bowl & pour hot water over them. Leave to infuse for 4-5 minutes, then strain thru a fine sieve (See note below).
4. Put butter, sugar, flour, almonds, eggs & coffee in a lrg bowl. Beat well for 1 min till blended. Divide mixture evenly between the tins & level the surface.
5. Bake for 25 min till well-risen & firm to the touch. Leave in the tins for 5 min, then turn out onto a wire rack to fully cool.
6. For Filling: While cake layers are baking, cream the butter, icing sugar + creme de menthe liqueur together in a bowl till light & fluffy. Refrigerate till cake layers are baked & fully cooled.
7. Remove lining paper from sponge cake layers. Put 1 layer on serving plate (flat side up) & frost top surface only w/chilled filling. Gently place 2nd layer atop filling (flat side down). Refrigerate till ready to serve.
8. To Serve: Generously dust top of cake w/icing sugar & scatter fresh mint leaves over dusted surface. (This was inconsistent w/the pic which showed the mint leaves mounded in the center of the top of the cake, so choose the look you prefer).
9. NOTE RE PREP STEP 2: My pref would be to use a simple coffee filter to strain the coffee & remove the grounds. I'd just squeeze it to get all the coffee for the cake or press the filter w/the round side of a tbsp to manage that step easily. :-).