Spice Cake With Coffee-toffee Crunch

Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs 50 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon clove (optional)
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup butter, at room temperature
• 24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (4 8oz. packages)
• 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 cup butter, cut in chunks, plus more for pan
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (we used cuban coffee either pilon or bustelo)

Recipe

• 1 cake:.
• 2 preheat oven to 350°f
• 3 butter and flour three 8-in. round cake pans.
• 4 in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed (use the blade or rotary beater if using a standing mixer), beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow, 4 to 5 minutes.
• 5 add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary & beat in molasses.
• 6 in another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves, if using.
• 7 stir (or beat at low speed) a third of the flour mixture into butter mixture.
• 8 stir in half the milk just until blended.
• 9 stir in another third of the flour mixture, then remaining milk, followed by remaining flour, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
• 10 scrape batter equally into prepared pans and spread level.
• 11 bake cakes until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of a layer comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
• 12 cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto racks and remove pans.
• 13 cool completely before assembling.
• 14 frosting:.
• 15 in a large bowl, beat butter with a mixer on low speed until light and fluffy.
• 16 beat in cream cheese until well incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
• 17 beat in powdered sugar, lemon juice, and molasses, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until no lumps remain.
• 18 coffee-toffee crunch:.
• 19 butter a 12x17" rimmed baking pan.
• 20 measure out vanilla and set aside.
• 21 in a 2-3 quart saucepan over medium-low heat, stir sugar, butter, 1/4 cup water, corn syrup, and espresso(or cuban)powder until butter is melted and you no longer see any crystals.
• 22 increase heat to high and boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches 300ºf on a candy thermometer, 4-5 minutes.
• 23 quickly remove from heat and carefully stir in vanilla (mixture will bubble up) be careful, it is not worth burning yourself!
• 24 immediately spread thinly in prepared baking pan and let cool until hard, about 20 minutes.
• 25 flex pan to release toffee.
• 26 if using for topping cake, finely chop enough to make 1 1/4 cups.
• 27 break remaining toffee into small chunks and reserve for garnish. store in airtight contained at room temperature for up to 1 week.
• 28 assembly of the cake:.
• 29 cut 4 strips of waxed paper or parchment paper, each about 4 by 12 in., and arrange them in a square over edges of a serving platter.
• 30 with a serrated knife, carefully slice cake layers in half horizontally.
• 31 place first split layer, cut side down, on serving platter (adjust parchment paper so that edges of platter are covered).
• 32 spread layer with about 1/2 cup frosting.
• 33 sprinkle with about 1/4 cup chopped toffee.
• 34 repeat frosting and sprinkling with next 4 split layers.
• 35 top with remaining split layer, but don't frost or sprinkle with toffee.
• 36 brush away crumbs around sides and base of cake.
• 37 spoon 1 cup frosting into a small bowl and stir in milk until smooth.
• 38 spread a thin layer of frosting over top and sides of cake to seal in crumbs.
• 39 refrigerate cake until coating is set, about 1 hour.
• 40 spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake, then remove strips of paper.
• 41 if not serving within a few hours, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day,
• 42 shortly before serving, garnish top of cake with toffee chunks.