If you’re reading this, chances are you love coffee as much as I do (or you’re here for a coffee loving friend). I don’t know about your city’s coffee situation, but we Portlanders are spoiled when it comes to good coffee. I wouldn’t call myself a coffee connoisseur per se, but I know what a good cup tastes like. So when I set out to configure the perfect coffee layer cake recipe, I wanted to capture the rich and aromatic flavor of the good stuff. The only way to do that is to use rich and aromatic coffee beans in the recipe!
It all starts with a delicious cup of coffee. The best part about this is you can make yourself an extra cup or two for sipping while you start whipping things together. I really love these Blue Bottle Coffee beans, because the combination of Congolese and Ethiopian beans produce a chocolatey aroma with undertones of blueberry and cardamom. Sounds delicious, right? Just keep in mind that whatever beans you choose will flavor the cake, so choose wisely! PS: isn’t it the best coincidence that my cake ended up matching my favorite coffee mug ever?
The texture of the cake is super soft thanks to cake flour (makes for ultra-fluffy cakes!) and a little brown sugar and sour cream for extra moisture. To bring out the richness of the coffee flavor, I’ve paired this coffee layer cake with a vanilla espresso buttercream and a chocolate ganache drip. The hint of chocolate ganache adds the perfect amount of depth to balance out the coffee flavors, and I can’t tell you how much I love the vanilla espresso buttercream. It’s basically my classic vanilla buttercream recipe with instant espresso powder added, but it ended up looking so pretty with the little flecks of espresso and tasting like a dream.
For garnish, I’ve used some chocolate covered espresso beans and these Speculoos cookies from Trader Joe’s ground into crumbs. If you’ve had these yummy cookies before you know they were made for pairing with coffee! They’re crispy caramelized cookies with a spiced cinnamon flavor, making them perfect for coffee dunking (or coffee cake decorating!). And thanks to these flavor choices, I ended up stumbling upon the most delicious snack ever: spread some vanilla espresso buttercream onto a Speculoos cookie, top with another cookie, and eat it like a sandwich. Heaven, y’all.
Whether you need something sweet to add to your brunch table or you just love coffee-flavored things, this cake will make you oh so happy.
Update 2021: I scaled this recipe down to make enough batter for three 6-inch cake pans or two 8-inch cake pans (the most requested sizes). Enjoy!
Coffee Layer Cake With Vanilla Espresso Buttercream
Ingredients
Coffee Layer Cake
- 2 3/4 Cups (290g) cake flour, sifted before measuring*
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Cup (205g) granulated white sugar
- 1/3 cup (65g) packed brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) strong coffee, room temperature
Vanilla Espresso Buttercream
- 2 cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 cups (960g) powdered sugar
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp (45ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Make The Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and a wax paper circle fitted to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
- Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. Combine the whole milk and coffee in a small container and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Add in white and brown sugars and continue to mix on high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the coffee and whole milk mixture and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. Batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (about 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 35-40 minutes. They’re done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they’re entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.
Make The Vanilla Espresso Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter on med-high until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), scraping down bowl and paddle a few times in between.
- Add powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down bowl and paddle between intervals. Mix on medium until fully incorporated.
- Turn mixer to low and add vanilla and milk. Mix on medium for one minute. Scrape down bowl and paddle and add the instant espresso powder and salt. Mix for another minute on medium until incorporated.
Assembly
- Torte each layer to desired height. Fill the first layer with vanilla espresso buttercream and place the second layer on top. Fill the second layer with vanilla espresso buttercream before placing the final layer on top. Crumb coat with vanilla espresso buttercream and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to chill before frosting with a final layer of vanilla espresso buttercream.
- Decorate however you wish. I’ve chosen to decorate with a chocolate ganache drip, a few swirls on top with Wilton tip 1M, and garnish with crushed Speculoos cookies and chocolate covered espresso beans.
Notes
Make ahead tip: These cakes can be baked, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and left out at room temperature up to two days ahead of decorating. Unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to two months before thawing and frosting. The buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip with your stand mixer.
Disclaimer: this post does contain some affiliate links, meaning I may receive a small commission if you click them and purchase items I’ve recommended. Using these links won’t cost you any extra money, but they do help to keep Sugar & Sparrow up and running. Thank you for your support!
Did you make this cake? I want to know how you liked it! Let me know in the comments below or tag me on Instagram so I can see your coffee-infused creation!
Hi Whitney! I’m thinking about making this recipe for my friends birthday as she loves her Starbucks iced coffees! I was hoping to make a 3 layer 4 inch cake for her birthday, for that would I just half the recipe?
Hi Izabela! To scale this down to three 4-inch layers you’ll want to make 1/3 of the recipe, so divide each ingredient by 3 to have the perfect amount for three 4-inch layers. Hope that helps!
I made the cake for a coworker and he absolutely loved it. Another said this is now her new favorite. Can’t wait to make it again.
Yay, Magda! I’m so happy this was a hit!
Hi, is there a way I can make this vegan please?
Hi Ellie! I haven’t tried making this vegan, but if you want to experiment, you could use my vegan vanilla cake recipe as a base and add 1 1/2 tsp of espresso powder in with the dry ingredients, then sub half of the soy milk for coffee. Here’s my vegan vanilla cake recipe: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vegan-vanilla-cake-recipe/
The sponge of this cake is fantastic. Unbelievably flavourful & moist. I lost power (no WiFi) and couldn’t access the buttercream recipe, so I followed another recipe from a reliable source, using the same flavours. It is a coffee lovers dream!
If this is any indication of your recipes – I can’t wait to try more!!!
This looks so good! What a great treat to make for friends!
Hi!
This cake looks amazing and I’m trying it for my fathers birthday. But I use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, at what temperature do I need to set my oven?
Hi Eva! I’m so excited for you to make this cake! The oven temp will be 177ºC
Hi Whitney never made a coffee cake before as I don’t like coffee, but I made this cake today for my mum and her friend’s and they all gave it a 5 star rating x
That’s so amazing, Michelle! Thanks for letting me know it was such a hit!
Hi Whitney,
You’ve probably answered this in other posts… I’m making this fabulous cake for my mom’s 96th birthday celebration again… did it last year… I want to do 3 8” layers… if I multiply the ingredients by1.5 how many eggs? Thank you so much.
Hi Kathy! I think I answered you on Instagram but I’ll put the answer here too just in case. 3 eggs multiplied by 1.5 will be 4.5 eggs, so for that half egg I will lightly beat one egg and use half of it. That way you get some egg white and some egg yolk. Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney, I followed your recipe except for one substitution with the espresso powder, I used espresso granules, but I pressed them to make them fine in a morter and pestle. It was a hit. It was light and fluffy. Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe.
Yay, Amanda! I’m so happy this recipe was a hit!
Is there a way to turn the espressos buttercream icing to cream cheese espresso icing and do you think that would taste good with this cake?
Hi Laura! Yes, absolutely. I actually just made cream cheese espresso buttercream for a cupcake version of this recipe! You’ll just need to make 2x this cream cheese frosting recipe and then add 1 Tbsp espresso powder to it: https://sugarandsparrow.com/cream-cheese-buttercream-recipe/ that will be enough to fill, frost, and decorate this cake.
I’m making this fantastic cake again… can’t remember, to fill, crumb coat, frost and pipe should I increase the buttercream?
Hi Kathy! This recipe yields enough buttercream to fill, crumb coat, frost, and pipe the cake. Enjoy!
Hello!
Does the metrics change if I use gluten free flour? Do I have to use whole milk or can I sub with a plant base milk?
Hi there! I’m not sure how much GF flour weighs, so I wouldn’t go by the gram measurement for that. Instead, go by the cup measurement for a 1:1 substitute. I have never tried this recipe with GF flour or plant based milk as substitutes, so it will be an experiment but worth a try!