San Francisco Coffee Crunch Cake

This coffee crunch cake is a famous dessert from San Francisco. This famous coffee dessert is both light and crunchy, which makes it quite unusual. Originally created by Blum’s pastry shop in Japantown district of San Francisco. The bakery is long gone, but the dessert lives on in the hearts of San Franciscans. The coffee dessert recipe starts with four layers of vanilla cake. Next is a coffee flavored whipped cream frosting. Here is a stabilized whip cream frosting so it won’t shrink, welt, or melt for days and days. This heavy cream frosting will hold up. The final and best part of this cake is the coffee crunch. The crunch is a honeycomb or sponge candy topping. It’s simple and quick to make, only requires a few ingredients, but like any candy making process, speed and watchfulness are required to get it right.

Recipe for Coffee Crunch Candy Topping

2 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons instant espresso coffee
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda

Prepare a 9×13 inch baking pan by lining the pan up the sides with foil. Spray with cooking spray or baking spray. Add the instant espresso powder to the boiling water and stir until well dissolved. In a large pot (a minimum 6 quart pot is recommended), add the sugar, dissolved coffee and corn syrup. Place over medium heat for 10 minutes and stir occasionally. Raise the stove heat to high. Stir the candy mixture frequently until the temperature reaches 300F. Anything less than 300 degrees and you’ll end up with coffee flavored taffy. Once the mixture has reached 300 degrees, turn off the heat and whisk in the baking soda quickly. It will foam up to a great volume. Spoon the mixture into the baking pan. Let the coffee crisp cool for 1 to 2 hours then with a rolling pin, break up the crunch into small pieces about 1/2 inch cubes. Store pieces into an air tight container until the cake is ready to be assembled. It can remain in the container for several days.

Recipe for Whipped Cream Coffee Frosting

3 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding powder
1 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

Dissolve espresso powder in 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. In a large mixing bowl, add the rest of the heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar, instant pudding, and coffee mixture. Beat on high until whip cream frosting thickens.

Easy Vanilla Cake Recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 2 8-inch pans with baking spray. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs and blend together well. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk. Pour into pans, dividing batter evenly between them. Bake for 20-25 minutes. When cake has cooled completely, cut each layer in two so there will be 4 layers.

How to Assemble the Coffee Crunch Cake

Spread about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of frosting on half layer. Top with 1/2 cup of coffee crunch pieces. Repeat two more times. Frost the sides and top of cake. Cover both sides and top completely with coffee crunch pieces.

This cake was discovered on a Japanese foodie tour, which is offered by Edible Excursions of San Francisco.

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