Coffee Crunch Cake
Submitted by etnurse
A San Francisco classic: angel food cake layered with vanilla whipped cream and coated in shattered coffee toffee crunch. This showstopping retro dessert is pure texture and flavor.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
10 minREADY
45 minThis legendary cake hails from the old Blum’s bakery in San Francisco, and once you taste it you’ll understand why people still talk about it decades later. Layers of airy angel food cake get sandwiched with billowy whipped cream, then the whole thing gets showered in homemade coffee crunch candy.
The candy itself is a wild little science experiment. Sugar, coffee, and corn syrup cook to hard-crack stage, then a hit of baking soda makes the whole thing foam up into a honeycomb-like brittle. Crush it into shards and you’ve got the crunch that makes this cake unforgettable.
Every bite is soft cream, light cake, and shattering coffee toffee.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a deep saucepan. The mixture foams dramatically when you add the baking soda. A shallow pan means a sticky mess on your stovetop.
- Don’t over-stir after adding the soda. You want the airy, honeycomb texture. Too much stirring collapses the foam and you lose the crunch.
- Crush the candy between wax paper. A rolling pin does the job. You want irregular, jagged pieces, not powder.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine 1½ cups sugar, coffee and corn syrup in saucepan at least 5 inches deep.
Bring mixture to boil and cook to 310F on candy thermometer or hard-crack stage (small amount of mixture dropped into cold water will break with brittle snap).
Remove syrup from heat, immediately add soda and stir vigorously just until mixture thickens and pulls away from sides of pan.
Mixture will foam rapidly when soda is added.
Do not destroy foam by excessive beating.
Immediately pour foamy mass into ungreased 9-inch square metal pan (do not spread or stir).
Let stand without moving until cool.
When ready to garnish cake, knock hardened mixture out of pan and crush between sheets of waxed paper with rolling pin to form coarse crumbs.
Split cake into 4 equal layers.
Combine cream, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and vanilla in chilled bowl and beat until stiff.
Spread about ½ of cream between layers and remainder over top and sides of cake.
Sprinkle generously with crushed topping.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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