Dalgona Cake
Two layers of light coffee sponge, soaked with sweet coffee, filled and covered with a pale, airy cream made by folding whipped dalgona coffee into whipped cream. It tastes like the drink, only you need a fork.
At a glance
- Coffee : sugar : water
- 1:1:1
- Active time
- 45 min
- Total time
- 190 min
- Makes
- 10 slices
- Serve
- Chilled
- Kit
- Two 20 cm tins
Ingredients
Note: Instant coffee is essential for the cream. Ground coffee will not whip.
Method
-
Whip the sponge eggs
Heat the oven to 180°C, or 160°C fan, and line two 20 cm tins. Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk for eight to ten minutes, until very pale, tripled in volume and thick enough that a trail of batter sits on the surface for three seconds.
There is no baking powder. This air is the only thing that makes the sponge rise.
Whisk 8 to 10 minutes -
Fold in flour and coffee butter
Sift the flour over in three goes, folding gently with a large spatula each time. Stir the tablespoon of instant coffee into the melted butter, stir a spoonful of batter into that, then fold it back into the rest.
Fold, do not stir. Every heavy movement knocks out air.
-
Bake
Divide between the tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden, springy, and pulling away from the sides. Cool for five minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes -
Whip the dalgona
Beat the three tablespoons each of instant coffee, sugar and hot water until thick, pale tan and holding stiff peaks. Three to four minutes with an electric whisk.
Whip 3 to 4 minutes -
Make the dalgona cream
Whip the cold cream and icing sugar to soft peaks. Fold in two thirds of the dalgona until evenly pale tan. Keep the last third for the top.
-
Soak, fill and cover
Brush the cut side of each sponge with the sweet coffee. Spread a third of the cream on the first layer, top with the second, and cover the top and sides with the rest.
-
Swirl the dalgona on top and chill
Spoon the reserved dalgona on top and swirl it into the cream with the back of a spoon. Dust with cocoa if you like. Chill for at least an hour before slicing.
Chill 1 hour
Why this works
The cake has two foams in it, and both work for the same reason: something dissolved holds the air in. The sponge is a genoise-style whisked sponge. Whisking eggs and sugar for a long time dissolves the sugar into the eggs and traps a great deal of air, which the egg proteins stabilise. In the oven, that air expands and the egg proteins set around it. There is no raising agent, so every minute of whisking is height in the finished cake, and every heavy-handed fold is height lost.
The topping is dalgona coffee. Instant coffee is coffee extract that has been dried, and it carries dissolved compounds that stabilise bubbles. Beaten with equal sugar and hot water, the sugar thickens the liquid into a syrup that holds the air, the same mechanism as Cuban espuma or Indian beaten coffee. Folded into softly whipped cream, which is held up by partly crystallised fat, the two foams support each other and give a cream that is lighter and more strongly flavoured than coffee cream made with brewed coffee.
Soaking the sponge with sweet coffee does two things. It adds moisture, because a whisked sponge is fairly dry, and it carries the coffee flavour into the cake itself, so the cake does not taste of coffee only at the surface.
Dalgona coffee went viral in early 2020, named in South Korea after a honeycomb toffee it resembles. The cake is one of the more durable things to come out of it.
Variations
- Tiramisu style: soak the sponges more heavily and fill with mascarpone folded into the dalgona cream.
- Cupcakes: bake the sponge in a muffin tray for 15 minutes and pipe the cream on top.
- Mocha: a tablespoon of cocoa sifted with the flour.
- Roll: bake the sponge in a lined tray for 10 minutes and roll it up with the cream.
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Questions
What is dalgona cake?
A cake inspired by dalgona coffee: coffee sponge filled and covered with whipped cream folded with whipped instant coffee, sugar and water.
Why did my sponge not rise?
The eggs and sugar were not whisked long enough, or the flour was stirred in rather than folded. Whisk for eight to ten minutes until tripled and fold very gently.
Can I make dalgona cream ahead?
It holds for a few hours in the fridge, but is best made shortly before assembling. The finished cake keeps two days chilled.
Can I use ground coffee for the dalgona?
No. Only instant coffee dissolves completely and whips. Ground coffee will not foam.