I love coffee and I love mocha cake. 
I miss goldilocks and red ribbon’s mocha roll. So for Francine’s birthday party, I decided to dig the internet for a recipe that will yield the mocha cake I love way back in the Philippines. I think I found one (Thanks)! But since I have not tasted mocha cake for a while, I really can not tell. Definitely, I love the mocha cake I made for Francine’s party I tried making a mocha roll out of it too…
Here is the recipe I found on the internet with some revisions based on how I made my cake.
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. fine iodized salt
1-1/2 cups white sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. instant coffee – make sure the granules are fine or use 3/4 cup espresso made from single serve coffee instead of the granules and 3/4 hot water stated in the original recipe.
1/2 cup vergetable oil
3/4 cup hot water
8 egg yolks
8 egg whites
1 tsp. cream of tartar
Procedure:
· Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour 8 -inch round baking pans and 3 inch in height. For mocha roll, use 12 x 16 x 1.0 inches tray lined with parchment paper (lightly grease the bottom of pan before putting the liner).
· In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, 1 cup of the sugar, baking powder and coffee. Make a well in the center, amd pour in oil and hot water.
· Using electric mixer with paddlle attachment, beat mixture at medium-low speed for 3 minutes. Continue mixing at the same speed, add ewgg yolks one at a time, blending well after each addition, until thouroughly mixed. Set aside.
· In another medium bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with wire beater attachment of electric mixer at medium high speed until frothy. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in four additions, beating until mixture is stiff and glossy.
· With rubber spatula, gently fold one fourth of beaten egg whites into batter, scrappiing bottom of bowl, until lightly blended. Gently fold about 1 cup of batter into beaten egg white mixture. Repeat until all the batter has been blended into egg white mixture. Pour evenly into prepared pans.
· Bake for 25 - 35 minutes (check for doneness at 25 mins), then remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Fill and frost with coffee cream frosting and refrigerate. For rolls, baking should take about 15 minutes only.
Coffee Cream Frosting
1 cup butter, cut into big chunks
1 tbsp. instant coffee
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
· In a small mixing bowl of the electric mixer, beat butter with paddle attachment at low-medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
· Add instant coffee and beat for 1 minute. Add cream, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until mixture is light and fluffy. add powdered sugar in four addiitons, beating well after each additions, until mixture is smooth.
Note that beating the eggwhite is a bit tricky and so as making the frosting. Please read the comments in this article for some tricks how to successfully make this cake. I also have a simplified version of the frosting using the following:
1 cup heavy whipping cream (chilled)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp espresso ( I use liquid form but have tried fine granules coffee already and they both worked well)
Beat all the ingredients using wire whisk until stiff. Easy and yummy!
Hi i would like to ask if you could lend me ur mocha cake recipe..i miss goldilocks & red ribbon too. Thank you
Hello. Thanks for checking our blog. Here is the exact recipe I found on the internet.
For mocha roll, use 11.75 x 15.5 x 1.0 inches tray lined with parchment paper (grease the pan and the parchment before putting the batter). I used the frosting as the filling for the roll and the icing. I hope you will like it as much as we did.
Mocha Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. fine iodized salt
1-1/2 cups white sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. instant coffee
1/2 cup salad oil
3/4 cup hot water
8 egg yolks
8 egg whites
1 tsp. cream of tartar
Procedure:
· Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour 8 -inch round baking pans and 3 inch in height. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, 1 cup of the sugar, baking powder and coffee. Make a well in the center, amd pour in oil and hot water.
· Using electric mixer with paddlle attachment, beat mixture at medium-low speed for 3 minutes. Continue mixing at the same speed, add ewgg yolks one at a time, blending well after each addition, until thouroughly mixed. Set aside.
· In another medium bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with wire beater attachment of electric mixer at medium high speed until frothy. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in four additions, beating until mixture is stiff and glossy.
· With rubber spatula, gently fold one fourth of beaten egg whites into batter, scrappiing bottom of bowl, until lightly blended. Gently fold about 1 cup of batter into beaten egg white mixture. Repeat until all the batter has been blended into egg white mixture. Pour evenly into prepared pans.
· Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Fill and frost with coffee cream frosting and refrigerate.
Coffee Cream Frosting
1 cup butter, cut into big chunks
1 tbsp. instant coffee
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
· In a small mixing bowl of the electric mixer, beat butter with paddle attachment at low-medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
· Add instant coffee and beat for 1 minute. Add cream, atablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until mixture is light and fluffy. add powdered sugar in four addiitons, beating well after each additions, until mixture is smooth.
Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ve been looking for a Mocha Roll recipe (Filipino style).
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Woooooow… salamat! I’ve been always looking 4 a recipe, how to make an original filipino cake/mocha roll, like goldilocks do ;D ‘nd now finally, i’ve found it! thanks so much! i’m gonna try to bake it tmrw ;D
bake for only 15 mins???
@Pamela Yes, the original recipe calls for it to be baked for only 15 mins.
hello
is it cake flour or regular flour?
Hi Mary. I just used regular flour. Thanks for checking our website.
Hi, I’ve tried this Mocha cake recipe, my cake didn’t turn to be as fluffy… I might overbeaten or overcooked it… can you please advise?
FYI: if using 3 inches (height) baking pan, 15 mins is impossible! it takes wayyyyy longer!
great recipe though!
@Lanie I am not an excellent baker but I think it is important to make sure the eggwhites are stiff and glossy (this means when you pull the beater out of the bowl, the eggwhite mixture looks like an icing and does not drip from the beater). Also do not overmix when you do the folding. I wish I can give you more tips. Anyone with more tips out there?
@Silvia, I always make this recipe into a mocha roll (one time as a cake but I made layers of it so i use 1 inch pans and 15 mins worked fine) and I guess you are right. If the 1/2 inch cooks for 15 mins, the 3 inches should take more time… I say just check it after 25 mins for doneness and cook further if needed.
Thanks y’all!
for the instant cofee, did you add water first and then measure out the 2 tbsp? Or is it 2 tbsp of dry instant coffee?
Hi Lulu. I just added the 2 tbsp instant coffee as directed (powder form). I assume that’s the reason why the recipe calls for the warm water?
Thanks for checking our website.
Hi Frans,
Thanks for the recipe! I just want to know if it would work the same if I only have a hand mixer not the stand mixer. Thanks!
Hi Penny. The first few times I made this I was just actually using a hand mixer and it turned out fine. As long you get the right eggwhite fluffiness and fold them the right way, it should came out right. In fact the cake in picture was made using a hand mixer.
Thanks for visiting our site.
hi again! I wonder how will i know the right fluffiness and what is the right way to fold it?
sorry for the inconvience!
Hi Penny. No problem. I’d be glad to help although I have to tell you that I am not an expert in baking myself. Anyway, the texture I look for when I make this cake is that the eggwhites should be stiff such that when you lift the beater it will stick to it and at the same time has some sheen to it. Just try making it and you will see from there what needs to be improved.
I can not explain the folding technique so I googled for a good description of it online. Here is one: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/fold.htm.
Goodluck and let me know how your first try of this recipe turns out.
Thanks so much! I’m from Cali and married a military man. I love and grew up on goldilocks, we used to eat lunch there with my grandma after church. All my birthday cakes were from there growing up. Thank you for finding this recipe!
I just tried this last weekend and it turned out pretty good, and really close to Goldilocks. I had a bout of nostalgia, eating it.
I made a mistake and used only 1/2 the eggs so it was a pretty dense cake, but still good. I also ran out of cream so I used milk for the icing. It tended to separate from the butter, but I continued beating and it was fine. One thing, it is probably better to dissolve the coffee granules in the hot water before mixing — I got a few stray coffee granules that didn’t melt. The one thing missing — does anyone have a recipe for the icing that goes on top, just like they do in Goldilocks and Red Ribbon?
I love this cake. Definitely taste like the Goldilocks Mocha Roll I used to love. Do you have a recipe for the Chocolate Roll? I miss that too..
I’ve cooked this cake three or four times but only once did the icing turn out okay. The liquid always separates from the butter. Any advice?
Hi! What exactly do you mean by salad oil? I use virgin olive oils for my salads… would vegetable oil or melted butter do? The butter for the frosting, is it salted or unsalted? Thanks.
Happy New Year! Thank you for visiting our website. I’ve been busy during the holidays thus the delay of my responses to your questions.
@Inday I still do not have a good choco roll recipe. I will post it here once I discovered one.
@Maria I have experienced the same problem you did once. I think you have to add the cream on small amount and make sure it is thoroughly incorporated before you add more.
@Amie I use vegetable oil. I have mistakenly used peanut oil already and it still worked. I sometimes used canola oil too and it also turned out ok. For the butter I use unsalted butter because that is what we use at home but I guess salted butter would work fine too and may even taste better?
Thanks.
I always baked chiffon cake and in addition for starters who wanted to make sure of the egg whites stiffness is to invert the mixing bowl with the egg whites beaten. If it doesn’t slide off from the bowl then it is beaten right enough to fold it in with the batter.
hi! what did you use the 8 inch round pan for? i am about to try this recipe.. thanks
thank you for posting your mocha roll recipe. The cake part if great and I had no problems preparing it. But I had a problem preparing the frosting. I let the butter reach room temp before using it, followed all instructions too. I didn’t notice any curdling until I finished pouring half of the whipped cream. Also, there were coffee granules that didn’t mix in with the icing. Do you think it would be safe using 1/4 cup hot water with the coffee granules before pouring into the butter? If you have a more idiot-proof recipe for the frosting, I’d appreciate very much. Many thanks!:-)
thank you for posting your mocha roll recipe. The cake part is great and I had no problems preparing it. But I had a problem preparing the frosting. I let the butter reach room temp before using it, followed all instructions too. I didn’t notice any curdling until I finished pouring half of the whipped cream. Also, there were coffee granules that didn’t mix in with the icing. Do you think it would be safe using 1/4 cup hot water with the coffee granules before pouring into the butter? If you have a more idiot-proof recipe for the frosting, I’d appreciate very much. Many thanks!:-)
@Olga thanks for the tip.
@flo the 8″ round pan is the one used in the original recipe because this is a cake recipe but if you use a cookie sheet about the size i posted above, you can make mocha roll instead.
@Atticus the other option I can think of for an easier frosting is to use heavy whipping cream. add coffee (liquid form) and powdered sugar then beat until stiff. I am not sure about using hot water with the coffee granules then mixing it…
Thank you for posting this! I will try the frosting ASAP. I had a question though. I only have a hand mixer and therefore do not have the paddle attachment…is it okay to use the regular beater attachments?
@Doodles for the frosting, the beater should be better than the paddle. good luck and hope your mocha roll/cake will taste yummy.
Hello again!
I just tried the frosting recipe today – and it was delicious! However, I had a problem with the coffee granules too. Not only where there undissolved ones, the consistency of the frosting was also just a bit runny due to the coffee liquid. Anyways, I dissolved them the night before and stored it in the fridge. I know you said to use heavy whipping cream but I could not find one in our local grocery store here, but I will search when I have more time.
What brand of coffee do you use?
I need to invest in a regular kitchen mixer – or a really tall mixing bowl! haha it was a mess! But I like said, it was delicious!
just wondering how to make my egg whiltes stiff as i’ve tried this recipe but my efgg whites are always runny
@Doodles Happy to hear the frosting turned out delicious. I just use a generic (Kroger) brand of powdered coffee. make sure you dissolve the coffee well in the hot water to avoid any granules. Maybe you added a little too much coffee mixture to the cream that is why it turned out a bit runny? Im sure with practice, you’ll get the right consistency for the frosting.
@Nelam What type of mixer are you using? Be sure to beat the egg whites at a high speed. goodluck!
Hi! Today is my mom’s birthday and I am excited to try this recipe. The secret to mixing the egg whites is making sure that you mix it in a very clean and dry metal bowl (even if you have tiny grease in it, it would not turn out good) Also make sure your mixer is also clean, dry and free of grease. I hope this helps. I will keep you updated on how it turns out. THanks for posting this Frans!
@simonette Thanks for the tip. How was the cake you baked for your mom’s birthday?
yummmmy……. thanks to your hints , i’d love to stick to your weblog as usually as i can.have a good day~~
the coffee cream frosting is excellent in its simplicity! i just bought betty crocker for the bread and didn’t roll it. the bread looked like a big muffin but it was really good. when i first made the frosting the butter and whipping cream separated so i kept on beating it for a while but nothing happened. so i put it in the microwave for 30 seconds till the butter kind of melted then i started beating it for a while and it was sooo good and fluffy. i cut the bread into two and put some frosting in between then sprinkled chocolate shavings on top of the cake and voila! i also added hersheys kisses. i melted the kisses in the microwave and mix some whipping cream with it before mixing it with the frosting.
“· With rubber spatula, gently fold one fourth of beaten egg whites into batter, scrappiing bottom of bowl, until lightly blended. Gently fold about 1 cup of batter into beaten egg white mixture. Repeat until all the batter has been blended into egg white mixture. Pour evenly into prepared pans.”
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Hi frans, just came across your recipe and i think its delishh, but im just a bit confused of the above instructions… does this mean just going back and forth?? Cant i just mix them all together at one time??
the texture of my mocha cake turned out like a banana bread!!! lolz. im gonna try again! taste good though!
@iyhene sorry to hear your first try of the mocha cake didn’t go so well. about your question, you are right about going back and forth. For me, i just do this about 3-4 times and i fold them altogether in one bowl. if you haven’t done a lot of baking, folding is a bit tricky. but im sure you’ll get it.
good luck.
I try you cake but didn’t turn out good. bake for 15 minutes is not enough.. I didn’t do the roll I put in a pan and bake for 15 minute.. because I want to have 8 inch cake round I bake it for another 30 minutes.. The cake turn heavy not fluffy… I waist so much time.
@angel sorry to hear your cake didn’t turn out good. someone already mentioned in the comments above that 15 mins is not enough when you use the 8 inch round cake. 30 mins sounds pretty right. As to the cake turning heavy and not fluffy, it’s probably due to the consistency of the egg white mixture or the folding technique? Not sure. I am not an expert baker myself but if you read on the comments above you might pick-up some tips.
@CATHY great variation. sounds yummy…
@best coffee cake recipes thanks. i’ll try to post other recipes come summer time – when the kids are off to school and hopefully, ill have more time baking.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. For those people who made their cakes heavy and not fluffy, it is definitely because of the mixture of the egg whites. It should be stiff and not frothy before adding into the batter. It will require a lot of beating to make the egg whites really stiff. Visit this website to see how the eggwhites should look like when its stiff. It will also help if the egg is at room temperature before you crack it.
http://bakingsheet.blogspot.com/2005/06/cooking-school-how-to-beat-egg-whites.html
im going to try again on the weekend and let you know!
@marie Thanks for the tips.
@iyhene Hope your cake will turn out good this time.
Hi Fran, Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ve tried it once and the cake turned out great. However, just like some of the postings, I have also had some trouble with the frosting. Since we add 1 tbsp of the whipping cream at a time, I guess it would be awhile before we get them all mixed up to get the right consistency ? Will overbeating it cause a problem ? Please advise.
Hello fran,
I tried your recipe and oh dear, the taste is spot on. Perfect! Thanks for sharing this fab recipe
It’s just the frosting that I’m having difficulty with. It’s not as smooth as what you have in your picture. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’m very careful not to overbeat as it gets real grainy and then watery, that’s what happened the first time I used whipping cream 
. Do you have any tips how to do it?
Thanks a lot!
I have been a professional cook & amateur baker all my adult life & cannot, even after 5 tries, get the frosting ingredients to fully incorporate. When I make a regular butter cream frosting I use half the butter, more sugar & a fraction of the liquid. Should the cream be whipped first ? Can you suggest the time frame of beating between additions?
When I was younger, I remember my grandma making mocha refrigerator cake. It tasted exactly like hizon’s mocha cake (expensive cake and oh so good) and tastes really creamy. I don’t know if anyone is familiar with hizon’s. Anyway, I came across this because I’ve been craving for a hizon’s cake. I don’t remember my grandma’s recipe (passed away in 2003), so with this basic recipe, I can probably adjust the ingedients and get the taste I like. For those who are lazy like me….I remember my grandma buying angel food cake, then, just making the icing. She puts the cake in the fridge and we get to eat it the next day. I will be trying this recipe.