Caramel Cappuccino Cake – espresso cake paired with caramel buttercream frosting, topped with whole coffee beans and a sprinkle of cocoa powder. A new layer cake recipe by our contributor, Tessa Huff.
As we approach fall, yet are still experiencing warm summer temperatures, August calls for something just plain delicious. Being in between seasons, I didn’t want to make a recipe using the last of the summer produce that might be gone any day now nor did I want to jump the gun into fall baking (there will be PLENTY of that coming up soon). Instead, I wanted to focus on a cake with exceptional flavor. Something not too gimmicky. A cake that can be enjoyed all year round.
Enter this Caramel Cappuccino Cake. The flavor profile isn’t too flashy with too unique of ingredients or anything. It’s familiar but not boring. It’s neither trendy nor basic. It’s not outwardly coffee-flavored either, just moist and tasty with hints of espresso. The type of cake you could possibly eat on any day of the week or for any special occasion. Plus, caramel. Nobody has ever said “No” to caramel buttercream, right?
The espresso and brown sugar are really what elevates this simple butter cake into something spectacular. The coffee soak keeps it extra moist and adds just a bit more coffee flavor to the velvety cake. Using a Swiss meringue buttercream base, I find it easier to add more caramel sauce than you could to an American buttercream before it gets too cloyingly sweet. And in my opinion, the more caramel the better, so this option was a clear choice. You can use this recipe for caramel sauce, or your own favorite (store-bought or homemade).
For the decoration, I used a buttercream spiral to mimic that of a cup of swirly coffee. I kept some of the buttercream plain vanilla in order to give a bit of contrast to the piped dollops of frosting – think dollops of foamy cappuccino! I topped each with a whole coffee bean, but I bet a chocolate-covered bean would be even better. Lastly, a pinch of cocoa powder to finish it off. You could also use a sprinkling of cinnamon – yumm! In either case, a little goes a long way, so be mindful of your “sprinkling” since once it’s on, it doesn’t come off.
Caramel Cappuccino Cake
Caramel Cappuccino Cake – espresso cake paired with caramel buttercream frosting, topped with whole coffee beans and a sprinkle of cocoa powder.
- Skill Level: ✽ ✽ ✽ ✽
Ingredients
For the Cappuccino Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¾ cup strong, hot coffee
For the Coffee Soak:
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 heaping teaspoon instant espresso powder
For the Caramel Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups unsalted butter, cubed, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup caramel sauce, or to taste
For the Assembly:
- reserved vanilla buttercream
- whole coffee beans
- cocoa powder
Instructions
Make the Cappuccino Cake:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8-inch pans and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and brown sugar and increase the speed to medium-high. Continue mixing until the butter and sugars are creamed together. The mixture should be light and fluffy.
- With the mixer on low, add in the vanilla followed by the eggs, one at a time. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- In alternating batches, add in half of the dry ingredients, followed by the whole milk, then the remaining dry – mixing on low in between. Mix until the batter is just combined then scrape down the bowl. With the mixer on low, stream in the hot coffee and mix until smooth.
- Evenly distribute the batter between the three pans. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 24 to 26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans.
Make the Coffee Soak:
- Combine all of the ingredients together in a saucepan. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a slight boil. Lower the heat and simmer on low for about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until use.
Make the Caramel Buttercream:
- Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Gently whisk until combined.
- Place mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water to create a double-boiler. Whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until it registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Carefully transfer the bowl back to the stand mixer.
- Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg mixture on high for 8 to 10 minutes until stiff, glossy peaks and the outside of the mixing bowl returns to room temperature.
- Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, slowly add cubed butter and mix until incorporated.
- Add vanilla extract and whip on medium until silky smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Reserve 1 cup of the vanilla buttercream and set aside. To the remaining buttercream, add the caramel sauce and beat the frosting on medium speed until silky smooth.
Assemble the Cake:
- After the cakes have cooled, trim the tops as needed until level. Generously brush the cakes with the coffee soak.
- Place the bottom cake layer on a cake board or serving dish. Spread on about 1 cup of caramel buttercream with an offset spatula. Top with the next layer of cake and repeat.
- Use the remaining caramel buttercream to frost the entire cake. Fill a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip with the reserved vanilla buttercream. Pipe dollops of frosting around the top edge of the cake. Top with coffee beans and a few pinches of cocoa powder.
Notes
- If at any point the buttercream appears curdled, just keep mixing. If the buttercream appears soupy, try placing it in the refrigerator for about 10 to 15 minutes then mixing again.
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
London Fog Cake
Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake
Gingerbread Latte Cake
Coffee Walnut Cake
Walnut Cake
This sounds wonderful, Tessa! Is there a weight that you recommend for one cup of flour? I would love to make this, but I want to be sure I use the correct amount. If not, how do you measure your flour: spooning into a measuring cup or scooping and sweeping the flour? Thank you!
Great question Chris. Generically speaking, one cup of all-purpose flour is 120 grams. Spooning your flour into a measuring cup is the best way to get close to this weight.
Please, How do I know the sugar and egg mix has reached 160 degrees without a candy thermometer?
A candy thermometer is really the only way to be certain that the egg mixture has reached 160 degrees, which is the temperature needed to kill any bacteria that may be present in the egg whites.
Most grocery stores, Target, Walmart, etc will have an inexpensive candy thermometer for around $4 to $5. Or you can snag a good one on Amazon.
Perfect a birthday cake. Thanks
Perfection! Caramel and Coffee – i want to lick my laptop screen.
Caramel Cappuccino? It’s like a delicious Starbucks beverage decided to become a cake.
The perfect winter/fall cake now that the berry season is over…
love, hope
I just … I can’t even. This is such a piece of staggering beauty!
This is such a gorgeous cake. And I absolutely love the sound of the caramel cappuccino combination!
https://naramatablendblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/bodacious-red-wine-chocolate-blackberry-cake/
I made another one of your fabulous cakes and am a huge fan! I tell everyone I know about Layered. You are a genius and cake whisperer.
Thanks Tessa!
Now my pals are buying your book! Good idea!
I love it.
I tried this recipe a few weeks ago and it was such a hit.
Any help for us high altitude bakers? Just moved from 800 feet to 4,000 feet and im struggling with recipes
Hi Lacey! While we don’t have personal experience with high altitude baking, this might help you some: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
What is the caramel sauce? do you buy it> if so, where? thanks
If you look in Tessa’s comments above the recipe there’s a link to a caramel recipe (part of her London fog concoction).
I made this for a bake sale. Came out very nicely but I can’t say I’m a fan of the swiss meringue buttercream. True, it’s not as shockingly sweet as American buttercream, but I had the distinct impression with this kind of eating a stick of butter. Not lickably delicious like other frostings. Maybe this has to do with the freshness of the butter???
Correct, Swiss Meringue Buttercream is much less sweet than American buttercream. If you care to tone down the butter notes, you could reduce the butter down to two cups. Alternatively, you could whip in some confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar) at the very end to make a sweetened, modified SMBC. Hope that gives you some ideas to play around with the recipe so it suits your taste preference. Enjoy!
Can you explain what a coffee soak is?
Hi Anne,
The coffee soak is a coffee flavored simple syrup. The recipe is included on this page. As it soaks in, it moistens the cake.
This cake is gorgeous and looks delicious. When I looked at the ingredients and saw 3 cups of butter for the frosting…..wow! In any case, do you think if I reduced the frosting amount by a third (2 cups butter, 4 egg whites, etc) there would be enough to fill and frost the cake (without the additional vanilla frosting decoration) ?
Thanks
I wouldn’t suggest reducing the overall volume of the buttercream recipe since it will be used for both the filling and external frosting. However, you could reduce the amount of butter some, if you’d prefer.
Great recipe. Can’t wait to bake it 🙂 Do you think it would work ok just baked in 2 x 8″ cake tins rather than 3? Thanks
Hi is 3 cups of butter too much for the buttercream frosting ?
I reduced the butter thinking that you could have wrote wrongly n the frosting turn out soft
Is the frosting supposed to be stiff or soft?