My mom visited us in DC last week- of course I made her a cake! Toffee is her favorite candy, so I focused in on that and my Almond Toffee Crunch Cake was the end result! I ended up using two tubs of Trader Joe’s English Toffee and 1 jar of their Cocoa Almond Spread in my recipe. Having a Trader Joe’s across the street is a godsend!
This cake is a vanilla layer cake, frosted with cocoa almond buttercream, and filled with crunched up toffee. YUMMY.
Vanilla Layer Cake
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup egg whites
- 1 1/8 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Spray three 6″ round cake pans with cooking spray and line with parchment rounds.
Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. Line cake pans with cooking spray and parchment paper rounds.
Mix chunks of room temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
Pour in egg whites, and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk in two installments on a low speed. Add in vanilla and oil and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
Divide evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 37-40 minutes- or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pans. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before emptying on cooling rack.
Place cake layers into the freezer for 45 minutes to accelerate the cooling process.
Cocoa Almond Buttercream
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Cocoa Almond Spread (Trader Joe’s brand)
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 3 tsp vanilla
Beat the room temperature butter and cocoa almond spread at medium speed in a stand mixer for 30 seconds with paddle attachment, until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with small splashes of cream. Once fully mixed, add in the vanilla and salt, beating on low until the ingredients are fully incorporated and desired consistency is reached.
Due to the cocoa almond spread in this recipe, this buttercream ends up a bit thick. I ended up adding about another 2 Tbsp of heavy cream to get the consistency I wanted. I recommend adding tiny bits at a time to get the consistency you desire. If you end up making it TOO thin, just add powdered sugar back to the mix 1/4 cup at a time.
Beat on low for 2 minutes to get out any extra air.
When putting your cake together, take Trader Joe’s English Toffee on a cutting board, and chop up about 1 cup. When frosting the cake, add a layer of chopped toffee between each layer.
Decorate as you wish!! I used a Wilton 2d piping tip to pipe a braid around the top of the cake, and garnished with more toffee.
I had extra buttercream leftover from the cake, so I ended up making vanilla cupcakes filled with cocoa almond spread, and topped with cocoa almond buttercream- these went straight to the office!
Get your sweet on and ENJOY!!!