I made Caramel Macchiato Cake for my daughter’s 15th birthday. Originally her birthday cake was supposed to be a Perfect Chocolate Cake with an edible image of Jung Kook’s abs on top. Haha! Yes, you read that right! She was so obsessed with Jung Kook’s abs in their hit song Fake Love that was released this year.

The thing is, I forgot to make an order for that edible image and so I asked her what type of cake does she like and said she likes mocha cake or coffee based cake. And so I thought, Jung Kook’s song Coffee…

To be honest, I made a huge mistake in the frosting. This cake calls for Swiss Meringue Buttercream and it’s my first time to do it. It was going well at first until the buttercream had crumbled like tofu! I was about to toss it out but then I searched the internet and thought maybe there’s a way to revive this buttercream. I followed the steps, it became smooth but it’s not the consistency I wanted so I ended up using the easy and simple buttercream that I’m used to make. That went well.

So there you have it folks… my recipe for Caramel Macchiato Cake. I hope you like it  as much as we did.

Caramel Macchiato Cake

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake:

3 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup boiling water
¼ cup espresso powder
113 grams (1cup or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs
½ cup milk, room temperature

For Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes
½ cup heavy cream

For Caramel Buttercream:

150g butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
1-2 Tbsp espresso extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

FOR CAKES:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180C degrees. Grease and flour three 8 inch round cake pans. Line with baking paper or parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

3. In a small cup, combine the boiling water and espresso. Set aside to cool.

4.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. It will take about 3-5 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Combine the espresso mixture with milk.

6. Add the flour mixture and espresso-milk mixture to the batter alternately. Starting and ending with flour mixture. Make sure to beat well every after addition.

7. Divide the batter into 3 pans. Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes or until the center springs back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

For Caramel Sauce:

1. In a medium saucepan, melt sugar over medium-high heat. Whisk the sugar when it starts melting. Sugar will clump while whisking but just keep keep whisking until all sugar is melted. At this stage, stop whisking it and let it turn into a deep amber color. Swirl the pan to mix. Keep a good eye on the caramel, as it will get burn easily.

2. Whisk in the butter and mix until completely melted and incorporated. Remove pan from heat.

3. Gradually add in the heavy cream and whisk until smooth.

4. Transfer caramel immediately into a glass jar. Set aside and let it cool.

For Caramel Buttercream:

1. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

2. Add the remaining icing sugar and one tablespoon of the coffee extract and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in more milk, if necessary, to loosen the mixture.

For Toppings:

I alternately swirled some frosting on top of the cake and I put maltesers on them. I also put French macarons alternately with the swirl of frosting. I also let the caramel sauce drip on the side of the cake and made swirly bits on top to replicate Starbucks Caramel Macchiato’s design.

If you somehow replicate this Caramel Macchiato Cake recipe, please let me know if it goes well with you. I like to hear your baking stories.

Adapted from: A Classic Twist