Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Cake of the Week: Cookie Butter Cake with Cashews and Coconut Caramel


I am probably one of the last food bloggers to board to Cookie Butter train, and there is a reason for that. I’ve certainly heard of it. It's taunted me from the shelves of Trader Joe’s and from the recipes popping up on my Reader. But sometimes, with some foods, I just have to say no. That is, until one of my best friends in the whole world requests it for her birthday. Then I say YES.


So let’s talk about Cookie Butter (aka Speculoos, aka Biscoff Spread) for a minute. It tastes like ginger snaps but has the texture of peanut butter. That may sound weird to the uninitiated, but holy Cookie Butter!, I am absolutely never allowed to buy this again. I spend way too much time in a bathing suit for this to be a recurring food product in my life  –  I need to bake it into more things so it stops looking at me every time I open my cabinet.


You may wonder, what do you eat it on? Umm I’m assuming you mean things other than my fingers...a spoon then? No really, Cookie Butter would go well on anything that is good with peanut butter or Nutella. I'm thinking Cookie Butter crepes, Cookie Butter on toast/muffins/bagels. Cookie Butter baked into cookies…or spread on cookies. Seriously, I don’t think the how will be your problem, it will be how to stop.


This Cookie Butter Cake with Cashews and Coconut Caramel has a lot of things going on, but since it’s only one layer, it doesn’t actually seem that intense (see what I did there? rationalization = one of my many talents.) If you so choose, I think you could even skip the caramel part and just go for the cake with frosting. OH MAN the frosting!!!

Cookie Butter Cake with Cashews and Coconut Caramel

Recipe from Sugar Plum.
Printable recipe. 
Cake Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 tablespoons Cookie Butter or Biscoff Spread
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted cashews
  • 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Caramel Ingredients:
Note: This caramel recipe makes about twice as much as you need...tupperware the extra caramel and make another cake later!
  • 1 cup coconut milk, divided use
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/8 teaspoon finely ground sea salt 
Frosting Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons Cookie Butter or Biscoff Spread
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions: 
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. 
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat  butter, cookie butter and sugar until creamy - about 1 minute.  
  3. Add in the egg, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and beat until well combined.  
  4. Alternate adding in flour and coconut milk (flour, coconut, flour, coconut, flour), and mix until just combined. Finally, mix in cashews and coconut. 
  5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Cool 10 minutes in the pan before running a knife around outside edges and turning onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the caramel sauce:
  1. Bring to a boil over medium heat: 1/2 cup coconut milk, brown sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan.
  2. Boil, without stirring, until caramel reaches 236 degrees (soft ball stage).  
  3. Remove pan from heat and whisk in remaining coconut milk, butter and sea salt.  
  4. Using a fork, poke a generous amount of holes into the top of the cake, and pour caramel on top.  
To make the frosting:
  1. Beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Add more milk or sugar as necessary to reach a spreadable consistency.  

Frost the cake, decorate with coconut and cashews, transport to your friend’s house, cover in candles, sing Happy Birthday, and enjoy!

Printable recipe.