No, they're not really my mother’s invention, but when I was younger my mother always made them for whenever my school class had gatherings or celebrations. Everybody loved them, so I would always ask her to make them when all the other moms brought along cinnamon buns and cookies. My mom hasn’t made these mocha squares for years, but I found the recipe while looking through her cookbooks on a visit. Here it is, the perfect recipe for when you have friends over for a cup of coffee:

Yields 30 mocha squares
For the sponge cake bottom:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
200 g butter
1.6 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)

Mocha icing:
50 g butter
1 1/4 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 Tablespoons very strong coffee (for instance 2 teaspoons powder coffee and 2 Tablespoons boiling water)
6 oz coconut flakes

Instruction:
Preheat oven to 437 F. Beat egg and sugar. Melt the butter and let it cool. Mix flour, baking powder, and vanilla. Stir in the butter and the flour mix into the egg batter. Put a baking paper on top of a roasting pan approximately 14X17” in diameter. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Let cool. Melt the butter for the icing. Mix confectioner’s sugar and coffee and stir until the icing is smooth. Brush the icing onto the cake and sprinkle the coconut flakes on top. Cut the cake into squares.