Recipe of the week: Spice Cake With Coffee Toffee Crunch

Spice Cake With Coffee Toffee Crunch

This towering cake “makes a luscious centerpiece for the holiday dessert table,” said Charity Ferreira in Sunset magazine.

For cake

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1-1/4 cups butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans

3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans

1-1/2 cups sugar

5 large eggs

1/2 cup molasses

1 tbsp baking powder

1-1/4 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cloves

1-1/4 cups milk

For frosting

2/3 cup butter, at room temperature

2-2/3 cups powdered sugar

Four 8 oz packages cream cheese,

at room temperature

2-1/2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp milk

For cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour three 8-inch round cake pans. In large bowl with mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in molasses. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Stir (or beat at low speed) a third of flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in half the milk just until blended. Stir in another third of flour mixture, then remaining milk, followed by remaining flour, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Scrape batter equally into prepared pans and spread level. Bake cakes until wooden skewer inserted in center of layer comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto racks and remove pans. Cool completely before assembling.

For frosting: In large bowl, beat butter with mixer on low speed until light and fluffy. Beat in cream cheese until well incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in powdered sugar, lemon juice, molasses, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until no lumps remain. Cut 4 strips of waxed paper or parchment paper, each about 4 by 12 inches, arrange in square over edges of serving platter. With serrated knife, first split layer, cut side down, on serving platter (adjust parchment paper so that edges of platter are covered). Spread layer with about 1/2 cup frosting. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup chopped toffee. Repeat frosting and sprinkling with next 4 split layers. Top with remaining split layer, but don’t frost or sprinkle with toffee. Brush away crumbs around sides and base of cake. Spoon 1 cup frosting into small bowl, stir in milk until smooth. Spread thin layer of frosting over top and sides of cake to seal in crumbs. Refrigerate cake until coating is set, about 1 hour. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake, then remove strips of paper. Makes 20 slices.

Coffee Toffee Crunch

1/2 cup butter, cut in chunks, plus more for pan

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1-1/2 tsp instant espresso powder

Butter 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking pan. Measure out vanilla and set aside. In a 2- to 3-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, stir sugar, butter, 1/4 cup water, corn syrup, and espresso powder until butter is melted and you no longer see sugar crystals. Increase heat to high and boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches 300 degrees on candy thermometer, 4 to 5 minutes. Quickly remove from heat; carefully stir in vanilla (mixture will bubble up). Immediately spread thinly in prepared baking pan; let cool until hard, about 20 minutes. Flex pan to release toffee. Makes about 2 cups. If using for topping cake, finely chop enough to make 1-1/4 cups.