Last week I celebrated my 27th birthday. It’s hard to believe that 10 years ago I was starting college and dating my-now-fiance Dan. We’ve started a tradition where each year Dan bakes me a cake for my birthday. Last year he baked this amazing Coffee & Donuts cake and this year we decided on an Espresso Biscoff concoction.
This recipe, also from Sprinkle Bakes, was sure to be a winner. I love coffee and speculoos, so there was no risk. I also had a super cute dinosaur candle I had picked up a few years ago while on vacation and was waiting for just the right moment to whip out.
Since Dan didn’t cut the cake into a heart and pipe the frosting on, he sprinkled some crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans on it.
All in all, the cake tasted good, but the cake part itself was lacking a bit of flavor. Though there was a lot of Biscoff cookie spread and espresso in the batter, it tasted plain in comparison to the filling. If I were to make this again, I would change the cake to be a deep, dark chocolate cake with brewed coffee in the batter. The bitterness would help the Biscoff filling and Biscoff-mocha frosting stand out more. I would also see if it were possible to fill the cake with pure Biscoff instead of adding the sugar and butter to it. It tasted great, but without a bold cake, the filling got too sweet for me rather quickly.
This slice of cake was a perfect excuse to whip out my new Anthropologie plates! My best friend and I had this cake for breakfast, warm from the oven, before heading out to a local flea market and holiday popup. I do think this cake might taste better the day(s) after, when the coffee-flavor has had time to become more pronounced.
The only thing that could have made this birthday better was if it were warmer outside (I hate the cold)!
Espresso Biscoff Cake
By Published: December 9, 2013
- Yield: 1 9 (8-10 Servings)
- Prep: 30 mins
- Cook: 30 mins
- Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
This recipe is from Sprinke Bakes.
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons espresso powder
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup shortening
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1 cup crunchy biscoff spread or other cookie butter spread
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup crunchy biscoff spread or other cookie spread
- ½ tablespoon espresso powder
- 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
- chocolate-covered espresso beans chopped, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 ℉. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment circles. Grease paper, set aside.
- Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Combine water and espresso powder. Let cool slightly.
- Whisk together the granulated sugar and brown sugar in a small bowl. Place 1/4 cup of this mixture along with the shortening in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until well incorporated.
- Add the rest of the sugar 1/4 cup at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the espresso mixture; blend well. Add eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Divide batter between the two pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool for 5 minutes in the pans then turn out onto wire racks for further cooling.
- Biscoff filling: Place all ingredients except heavy cream or milk into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until well incorporated. If mixture is dry add milk or heavy cream 1 tbsp at a time until a smooth consistency is achieved. Mixture should be thick but spreadable.
- Mocha-Biscoff buttercream: Combine softened butter, Biscoff and confectioners sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until well combined. Add espresso powder and cocoa powder. Mix again; scrape down sides of bowl and beat at high speed until light and fluffy.