Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake Recipe
If you are a fan of the combination of chocolate and coffee, you are going to fall in love with this moist and flavorful Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake!
Table of Contents
Why we Love It
- Moist, decadent chocolate cake layers
- Chocolate and Toffee are a perfect combination (as with our Coffee Toffee Ice Cream Cake!)
- It has a delightful crunch from the toffee and pecans baked into each cake layer.
- Perfect for the chocolate or coffee lovers in your life! Keep this cake recipe in mind the next time you need a birthday cake recipe, holiday dessert, or other special occasion cake. It is sure to please a crowd!
How to Make a Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake
This Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake consists of rich chocolate cake layers sprinkled with pecans and toffee, and a Mocha Buttercream that has just the right balance of espresso and chocolate!
For today's cake, we used our Classic Chocolate Cake recipe, but it would work well for whatever your favorite chocolate cake may be. If you are a fan of doctored cake mixes, our Easy Chocolate Sour Cream Cakeis a great option!
What makes these chocolate cake layers even more fabulous is that we sprinkled the chocolate cake batter-filled pans with toffee and pecans just before baking. I love the flavor and crunch that this adds!
Here is a photo of the layers just before baking...
...and here they are fresh from the oven!
Assembly of the Mocha Toffee Crunch Layer Cake
When assembling the cake layers, we frosted mocha buttercream frosting onto each layer and followed with another sprinkling of toffee bits and and chopped pecans before adding the next layer.
SO good!
We hope that you enjoy the recipe! If you would like to make a cupcake version, I would recommend our Classic Chocolate Cupcakes, which use the traditional method of mixing, making a fluffier cupcake!
Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing
The chocolate cake recipe that we used for this recipe calls for the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing. Although the order of ingredients may seem a little strange at first, you are going to love the final results!
Cakes that are made with this popular method of mixing result in a slightly denser, velvety, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
If you are new to this method, you may be interested in watching our free video here: The Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.
More Coffee Flavored Cakes
We have so many cake recipes that have a little boost of espresso flavor. It complements so many flavors perfectly. If you love coffee flavored cakes, make sure to check out a few favorites below.
We also have a great Mocha Cake from cake mix!
You can find our full collection of favorite coffee flavored cakes here: The BEST Coffee Flavored Cakes and Frostings.
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 2 ¾ cup (322g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (82g) unsweetened cocoa (lightly spoon into cup then sift)
- 2 teaspoons (10g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, softened It should be softened enough to dent when pressed, but still holds its shape and cool to the touch. (Do not microwave)
- ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs at room temperature (If in a hurry, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for minutes.)
- 1 cup (220g) milk
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (220g) hot coffee, it can be instant or brewed (we used instant espresso)
- 1 cup (93g) pecans, chopped
- 1 cup (145g) toffee bits — I used Heath English Toffee Bits
For the Mocha Buttercream Frosting
- 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened
- 9 cups (1035g) powdered sugar (icing sugar in UK)
- 1 Tablespoon (7g) unsweetened cocoa (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon (3g) salt
- ½ teaspoon (2g) vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon 5g instant espresso coffee
- ¼ cup (60g) hot water
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour THREE 8 inch cake pans
- In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk for 1 minute to blend.
- Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk , oil and vanilla until blended.
- With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add approximately ½ of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 ½ minutes at medium speed. Don't mix above medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
- Slowly add the cup of hot coffee and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The batter will be very runny. Don't worry!
- Pour into 3 prepared 8" pans
- Once the batter is in the pans, sprinkle about ½ of the pecans and toffee bits over the top of the batter. The remaining pecans and toffee will be sprinkled over the mocha buttercream filling when assembling the cake. You can increase the amount used if you would like more crunch.
- bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a rack and then turn out of the pans.
- *Yields approx 9 cups of batter.
- Making cupcakes? Check out our Classic Chocolate Cupcake Recipe (conventional method of mixing for fluffier cupcakes) Holds up well to fondant
For the Mocha Buttercream Frosting
- Mix the instant espresso coffee into the ¼ cup of hot water, set aside to cool slightly
- Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Blend in the vanilla and cocoa powder and salt.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and half of the coffee. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and coffee and mix at medium speed another 3 to 6 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
- This recipe makes 6 cups of frosting. This is enough to fill, frost and add a moderate amount of decorative piping on a 3 layer 8 inch cake.
- If your consistency is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add a bit more water or milk, a teaspoon at a time.
Loved This Recipe?!
Oh that looks and sound delish! Adding it to my To Bake List! :-)
Yummmmmmm. I have to try this. Thanks Melissa
THANK YOUUU for listing how many cups of batter & frosting this yummy recipe yields! It helps so much when considering different sized tiers!
Question. I have Coffee Emulsion, it is similar to extract. Could I use that in place of the vanilla extract? Or would I use it in place of the Instant coffee>
Hi Beth, You would use it in place of the instant espresso coffee. I have read that 1 teaspoon emulsion is equal to 1 teaspoon extract. You will still need the 1/4 cup water ( you could also use milk ) to thin the buttercream. I would make the buttercream adding 1 teaspoon emulsion. Taste, then add additional emulsion 1/2 teaspoon at a time as needed to reach the coffee flavor you like in the mocha frosting. Below is the link I referred to for information on emulsion.
http://www.pastrychef.com/BAKERY-FLAVORING-EMULSION--COFFEE-NATURAL_p_2259.html
I am a new baker and made this. It was easy and really good! Very light. The next time I make it I will add more toffee bits. I made a strong attempt to decorate it like the picture but lets just say, no one judged my book by its cover. I had very willing participants to eat it all up.
Hi Laurel, I'm so happy you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for giving it a try. You are a new baker so don't worry that something doesn't look perfect, we are always our worst critic. Be patient, practice will improve your piping skills. The important thing is that your friends enjoyed the cake. Thanks so much for posting a review.
I just seen another recipe for this cake. It’s the same pic for sure. However I think a couple of items has been changed in theirs. Check under Desserts and Cakes. Just want to be sure someone is not using your recipe for their own behalf
Can this be made in a 13x9 pan?
Hi Amy, You can bake this in a 13x9 pan 2 inches deep. You will need 7 cups of batter, bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 min. The recipes makes approximately 9 cups of batter so you will have enough leftover for one 6 inch round layer or cupcakes to freeze for later.
Does it matter if you use regular cocoa powder or dutch process? Which one do you prefer for the mocha buttercream? Thanks. The two different kinds always confuses me.
Hi Gloria, All of our recipes so far use regular cocoa powder. I think I will add the type of cocoa powder to recipes so there will be no confusion.