We absolutely love this idea!
While most of us can't get together with our mums this Mother's Day due to lockdown restrictions, we can still connect over video chat – and what better way to bond than by baking a cake together.
The Easy Peasy Baking Campaign have shared their simple recipe for a Coffee Caramel Pecan Cake, made using only 10 ingredients and five pieces of equipment.
The decadent layered cake is sandwiched together with creamy smooth coffee buttercream and caramel, all topped with crunchy pecans...yum! Have fun baking with mum, then enjoy a good natter over tea and cake when you've finished. Sounds perfect to us.
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Coffee, Caramel & Pecan Cake recipe
Makes a three-layer 6" cake or a two-layer 8" cake
EQUIPMENT
- 2 x 8" cake tins, lined
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Knife
- Saucepan
INGREDIENTS
- 370g unsalted butter, softened, split into 250g and 120g
- 400g caster sugar split into 250g and 150g
- 4 eggs
- 250g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 fresh espressos (120ml) or 1 tbsp & 1 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 5 tbsp of boiling water
- 150g pecans, roughly chopped & extra for decorating
- 150ml double cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 500g icing sugar
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INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Preheat your oven to 160°C (fan) and line your cake tins with baking parchment.
Step 2
To make the sponge, cream together 250g of the butter and 250g of the caster sugar then add the eggs and mix until combined.
Step 3
Add in the flour and baking powder, followed by two of the espressos, and mix until no lumps remain.
Step 4
Gently stir in the roughly chopped pecans and divide the batter evenly between the two or three cake tins, depending on how many you’re using. Use the back of the wooden spoon to level.
Step 5
Bake the sponges for 20-25 minutes until golden and springy to touch and allow to cool completely. If they aren’t springy, put them back into the oven and check again after 5 minutes.
Step 6
Whilst the sponges are cooling, make your caramel by heating the remaining 150g of caster sugar and water together in a saucepan over a medium-high heat until boiling, without stirring – the sugar will naturally dissolve. Try not to agitate the caramel as it cooks and only swirl if necessary, do not stir with a spoon.
Step 7
Once the caramel has become amber in colour (around 5 minutes) and the bubbles are small, pour in the double cream, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon as you do so. It will bubble up and create a lot of steam, so be cautious. Once combined, stir in the salt and transfer the caramel to a bowl to cool.
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Step 8
Once the caramel is cool, rinse the mixing bowl and spoon to make your buttercream. Combine the remaining 120g butter, icing sugar, final espresso in the bowl and cream together until smooth.
Step 9
Save 60g caramel for the drip, then assemble your cake by sandwiching each layer with the buttercream and a spoonful of caramel spread on top, before lightly coating the top and sides with the remaining buttercream to achieve a naked cake effect. Scrape off any excess with the knife.
If your remaining caramel has thickened up, pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds before pouring on top of the cake and teasing down the sides to create drips using the tip of your knife.
Step 10
Sprinkle some roughly chopped and whole pecans around the top edge and serve.
Recipe from the Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by UK Flour Millers. You can find more Easy Peasy Baking recipes and information on the campaign over on the Fab Flour website fabflour.co.uk or on social @fab_flour on Instagram or @fabflour on Facebook and Twitter.