White Russian kick steps up cake flavor
The White Russian is one of my favorite sweet cocktails. The creamy, cool blend of coffee liqueur, vodka and cream — when made right — is a coffee-lover’s dream cocktail.
So when I saw a recipe for White Russian Cake in Cake Magic: Mix & Match Your Way to 100 Amazing Combinations by Caroline Wright, I knew it would be the first recipe from the book I would try.
But as I scanned through the ingredients, I was flabbergasted. There was neither coffee nor coffee liqueur in any of the cake’s three components.
The recipe, though sound and probably tasty, was really for vanilla cake with a vodka-spiked cream syrup and malted-milk flavored frosting.
But swapping coffee liqueur for the vodka was an easy fix to turn it into a true White Russian Cake. Next time I think I’ll add some liqueur to the frosting as well.
These days my coffee liqueur of choice is the locally made Rock Town Distillery’s Rock Town Coffee Liqueur made with Guatemalan coffee beans. It isn’t as sweet as most coffee liqueurs I’ve tried, and has a nice, straightforward coffee flavor.
White Russian Cake
For the cake:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
¾ cup plain full-fat yogurt OR buttermilk OR sour cream
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled OR 1 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla paste
4 eggs, at room temperature
For the syrup: ½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup heavy cream
Pinch salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
For the frosting:
1½ cups butter, at room temperature
¾ cup malted milk powder
Pinch salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar,
divided use
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of 2 (8- or 9-inch) round cake pans. Line bottoms with
parchment paper and dust with flour, tapping out any excess.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk well to combine. Stir in the yogurt, melted butter, water, vanilla and eggs until combined and no dry streaks remain. Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until cakes are domed, light golden brown and a wooden pick comes out clean or with dry crumbs.
Meanwhile, make the syrup.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cream and salt over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and coffee liqueur; set aside while the cakes bake.
As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, using a long skewer or the tip of a paring knife, pierce each cake at 1-inch intervals. Pour or brush the warm syrup evenly over the cakes. Be sure to use all of the
syrup. Place cakes, in pans, on wire racks to cool until they are no longer wet to the touch, 1 to 2 hours.
Once cool and dry, make the frosting.
For the frosting, combine the butter, malted milk powder, salt and 2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until incorporated. Add the remaining sugar, beating on medium, until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
Run a knife or offset spatula around the edge of the cakes to loosen. Invert cakes to remove from pans. Place one layer on a cake plate or stand; spread about ⅓ of the frosting over the top. Top with the second cake layer and frost top and sides of cake with the remaining frosting.
Makes 1 (2-layer) 8- or 9-inch cake.
Too hot to turn on the oven, but you still want something creamy with a spiked-coffee kick?
Make adult ice pops.
This pop combines the tropical flavors of coconut,
bananas, coffee and chocolate with a hint of hazelnut.
Tropical Coffee Pops
2 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
¼ cup coffee liqueur
¼ to ⅓ cup chocolatehazelnut spread
In a blender, combine the bananas, coconut milk, coffee liqueur and chocolate-hazelnut spread. Process until smooth. Pour mixture into small paper cups such as Dixie Cups. Freeze 1 hour, insert sticks and freeze until solid.
Makes 8 (3-ounce) ice pops.