It’s my birthday, and I’m celebrating with cake, caramel, and coffee, and I can’t imagine anything better. I mean what’s a birthday without such wonderful and simple things? Sure big presents and nights out can be fun, but give me some time at home, cake for breakfast, coffee for breakfast, and okay in the afternoon too, a nice movie (who wants to watch Eras tour again?????), and a fabulous dinner with a cocktail.
It might not always look like it from my fashion posts, but at my core, I’m kind of a homebody. I do want to go out to celebrate my birthday, and I will, but home really is where my heart is.
Oh and this cake has a big slice of my heart now too.
It’s one of those recipes that has been in my bookmarks for all of eternity, and I finally got around to making it. It didn’t disappoint, not at all.
Let’s start with the tender maple cake. It actually tastes like maple, and that’s no easy feat for cake. Then there’s the cream cheese frosting, which the cake does need because maple syrup is sweet and the tang from the barely sweetened frosting is exactly the flavor match.
Plus, the bitter coffee in the salted caramel. More flavor contrasts, and every dessert is better with a drizzle, a really big drizzle, of caramel. So we have all the flavors – sweet, salty, bitter, tangy. Now we need some texture contrast. Enter the maple crumble. You know those famous Milk Bar cakes, this crumble is reminiscent of those. It adds this addictive texture that makes this the ultimate celebration cake.
Here’s to celebrating your birthday however you want. And to making this cake to celebrate birthday, holidays, and just any day because why not?
Maple Crumb Cake with Coffee Caramel
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
Decadent cake with maple crumbs, cream cheese frosting, and salted coffee caramel.
Ingredients
Cake
2 ¼ cups paleo flour blend (2 cups almond flour, 1 ¼ cups tapioca starch, ¾ cup coconut flour)
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup olive oil
½ cup maple sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla bean powder
1 cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
Crumbs
1 cup paleo flour blend
1 cup maple sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
6 tablespoons olive oil
Caramel
1 cup coconut sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
¼ cup water
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved
¼ cup coconut butter
¾ teaspoon sea salt
Frosting
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla bean powder
Instructions
Make the cake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/325 degrees F convection. Oil 2 8 or 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottom only with parchment.
In a large bowl, oils and sugar until well combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and half the maple syrup. Stir in half the flour, followed by the rest of the syrup and the milk. Finish the batter with the remaining flour. Divide between the prepared pans and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Cool completely in the pans.
Make the crumbs. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and vanilla until combined. Stir in oil until clumps form. Spread on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until brown and caramelized. Cool completely on the pan.
Make the caramel. In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, syrup, and water. Place over medium heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the cream as well as the espresso powder and vanilla bean seeds and pod and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 until thickened and deep amber in color. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut butter and salt. Pour into a bowl and cool.
When ready to assemble the cake, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with a hand or stand mixer until lightened in texture. Slowly beat in cream and syrup, adding more cream as necessary until a light and fluffy frosting forms. Beat in the vanilla.
Place one cake on the platter or cake stand of your choice. Top with frosting and a generous sprinkle of crumbs. Drizzle with caramel. Place the other cake on top and coat the entire cake with frosting. Heap crumbs in the center of the cake and then drizzle caramel around the edges. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Cake may be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Liv for Cake
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
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