This may be my new favorite unleavened bread recipe! It is so good I had to give away to my sisters to avoid eating it all lol. I’m a huge fan of Caramel Fraps, and this pan of goodness gets darn close to replicating the flavor profile.
On my last test run before sharing the recipe, I decided to add expresso morsels, thinking the subtle cocoa flavor would enhance the experience. All praises to the Father, my hunch paid off. The recipe is absolutely delicious without the expresso morsels, but if you can find them, I highly recommend tossing them into the batter. Be sure to share and let me know what you think!
I presented the recipe in two sections below. One for the cake, and the other for an amazing Whipped Expresso Buttercream. Don’t hurt yourselves eating this bread yall!
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cake Ingredients
2.5 flour
2 cups white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter
3 eggs (room temp)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp butter extract
1/2 cap lemon extract
5 tbsp melted caramel (for cake batter)
2 tbsp condensed milk
1 cup milk
3/4 cup toffee bits
3 tbsp instant expresso, separated
3 tbsp expresso morsels (optional, see link below)
Approximately 1 cup caramel for topping (see instructions)
cake Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and grease a 9×13 pan.
- In a mixer, combine your sugar and butter until whipped. You should have a pale yellow mixture that is fluffy color/texture. It generally takes my mixer about 10 minutes to get to this point, however, your mixer may be stronger than mine. You know you are good if the mixture looks more whippy and not grainy like sand.
- Beat eggs in one at a time until fully incorporated, followed by vanilla extract, butter extract, lemon extract, caramel (for cake batter), and condensed milk.
- Add 2 tablespoons of instant expresso to the milk and set aside in preparation for the next step.
- Add salt and 1 tablespoon of instant expresso to flour and then slowly add in flour and milk to the batter in alternating fashion until both are gone.
- Add toffee bits and expresso morsels and fold into batter.
- Pour mixture into pan and add to oven.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. I start checking around 45 minutes and check every five minutes thereafter.
- Once the cake passes the toothpick test, remove and allow to cool uncovered completely.
- Once cooled, top with caramel to form a thin layer. Refrigerate after to harden caramel a bit in preparation of adding buttercream. It is easier to spread buttercream if the caramel is stiff. (See whipped expresso butter cream recipe below.)
- Add expresso buttercream and smooth into a nice layer on top of the caramel layer. Once buttercream is added, drizzle with caramel and enjoy!
whipped expresso Buttercream Ingredients
2 sticks of salted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
5+ tbsp of heavy cream (at least 5 tbsp, but use more if you want a thinner topping)
1 tbsp instant expresso mix
expresso buttercream Directions
- Using a standing mixer, beat softened butter on low/medium until pale color.
- Add powdered sugar slowly on low until fully incorporated.
- Add vanilla extract, followed by heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Add expresso into mix until combined. You will see specks throughout, some of which will dissolve as the mixture sits and comes together.
I added an affiliate link below if you’d like to purchase the referenced morsels from Amazon. I may receive a small commission, however, there is absolutely no charge to you. At minimum I wanted you to have a reference for the packaging.