Coffee crunch cake

Coffee crunch cake is the Queen’s absolute favorite birthday treat. Picking one up at Stickney’s restaurant in Palo Alto (sadly, now long gone) was part of the drill for her big day each year. This year, Dad (not much of a baker), is finally making one from scratch to help us celebrate, although now far from California.

How It’s Done

Coffee Crunch Cake, as Bay Area long-timers know, was a featured attraction of Blum’s Bakery in San Francisco (also Palo Alto and Berkeley). I only ever had it as produced by Stickney’s, a Bay Area coffee shop chain, and it was really great. It’s an assembly of three components: a vanilla sponge cake, coffee-flavored whipped-cream frosting, and homemade coffee crunch candy. I found at least half-a-dozen recipes for CCC on the web. I have moved on from Martha Stewart’s version and have provided my own variation here. See the recipe for ingredients and steps.

The Cake

Making CCC showed me how to make a really yummy cake, adaptable for many purposes and flavorings. I’m sure glad I invested in a non-stick tube pan. The cake separated from the pan during baking and came right out, no problem. A key was pulling out the old stand mixer and mixing the batter way longer that I would have thought to do until it was perfectly smooth. By hand, I carefully folded in the fluffy egg whites. If anything, I over-baked the cake a tad. Will experiment to get it just right. Will do anything for “science.” 🙂

The Frosting

I am no baker. I’m just sayin’. This became obvious in making the whipped-cream frosting. Learned that you don’t add hot coffee to the egg whites! The Queen had to rescue me.

The Crunch

Coffee crunch cake gets its name and character from the coffee-flavored brittle pieces that you stick all over the frosted cake. (See final product photo below.) To make the brittle, cook corn syrup, coffee, and sugar together until 290-300 degrees is reached on a candy thermometer attached to your pot. Candy thermometers are available at any grocery store in the kitchenware section for about $8. As soon as the magic temperature is attained, remove the pot from the heat for 10 seconds, and then sprinkle and whisk in one tablespoon of baking soda. Carbon dioxide gas is created and the mixture foams up the sides of the pot. This is why it’s very important to use a large pot for what is initially a small amount of mixture. We don’t want any spills or burnt fingers! The foaming subsides quickly and as soon as it does, pour the mixture out onto a sheet pan fitted with a silicone baking mat or spray-oiled parchment paper.

Yikes! It’s the blob! What looks like golden mud will, after cooling for at least 30 minutes, become a hard, foamy coffee candy. Gently break up the mass into big pieces (1-2″) and transfer then to a 1 gallon zip lock freezer bag until you are close to serving the cake. Then break up the candy further with a rolling pin, the bottom of a large pan, or mallet. Finally, adhere handfuls of them to the sides and top of the frosted cake, working to cover up as much of the frosting as you can. This is my least favorite part, and messy, but keep at it. The result is fantastic.

The Finale

When all the crunch is stuck on, you are ready to serve. Or, put the cake in the fridge to hang out. Voila! Behold the real deal. There was nobody more surprised than me the first time I made coffee crunch cake. It was delicious. And the Queen was very grateful.

Now, here’s the recipe.