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.
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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!
I made this yesterday and it looked beautiful. I’m attaching a picture: https://i.imgur.com/9EZ9kxQ.jpg
I’m told it was too sweet even though I used less sugar than the recipe stated and the coffee flavor didn’t come through in the cake layers. I think next time I’ll stick with a Swiss meringue buttercream. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi there, I tried to make this recipe, but only have 9 inch cake tins. I only managed to fill two cake tins and they are still really thin, probably about an inch. It didn’t seem to rise much. What could I have done wrong? Contemplating just making the batch again and making 4 layers, just scared the cake won’t be as sturdy as the sponges are thin.
Hi Lucie! This recipe should have definitely made enough to fill two 9 inch cake pans 2/3 full (assuming the pans are 2 inches tall) and should have a good rise to it. I’m not sure what happened there. If it didn’t rise much I would check to see that your baking powder is fresh. It expires every 6 months, and if expired it won’t allow the cake to rise.
Hi , could u plz tell me Wht expresso powder would be good for baking . And will it be giving out a strong coffee smell .
Hi lora! Here’s the espresso powder I used, but any espresso powder will do: https://amzn.to/3mH35Hl and yes, it will smell like coffee.
The recipe itself tastes delicious. However, I feel like the recommended pan sizes are off. I baked mine in three 8 inch round pans as suggested, and my cakes are extremely thin. I’m disappointed by this, because now my best friend’s birthday cake will be much shorter than I’d planned for, and sadly I don’t have time to re-do it. I think it would’ve been better to do three 6 inch pans instead. My guess is that four 6 inch pans would also make the layers too thin.
Hello, I am planning to make this cake in a 8 inch round cake pan that is 3 inches tall. Do I need to make and adjustments besides more time?
Thank you!
Hi Lauran! The recipe is written for 8 inch pans that are 2 inches tall, so if you’re baking them in a deeper pan it will take more time. I would check the cake at 5-10 min longer than the baking time specified and go from there.
Hi Whitney! I can’t wait to try out this recipe, the cake looks so delicious I would like to bake this recipe in 3 – 6 inch pans. Should I divide this recipe by 3? Thank you
Hi Amrita! For three 6-inch pans, I would just make the recipe as-is and have a little extra batter left over. It’s much easier than doing the math, which would be 3/4 of the recipe (you’d have to multiply each ingredient by .75 to get the exact amounts).
Loved this cake so much. I used the coffee frosting for the inside of the cake and the crumb coat and covered the rest in Swiss meringue butter cream and it was amazing. One of my favorite cakes ever!
Yay, Elita! I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit!
This cake recipe was divine!! I switched the coffee in for espresso because I didn’t have espresso powder (I put instant coffee in the food processor instead) and it worked like a dream.
Yay, Raneem! I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit! Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
Hi! I have a concern with the recipe, actually. We just got done baking our cakes and they spilled everywhere, even though we filled them 2/3 of the way full!! They’re also really spongey looking and caved in the middle, rather than being fluffier. Do you know what could have caused this? Also, we didn’t see anything specially noted for a higher elevation difference, and we followed the recipe to a T. Any help would be great! Thanks!
Hi Alex! I’m sorry to hear that your cakes spilled over. Are you at high altitude? Since this recipe isn’t written with high altitude baking in mind, that could be why the cakes spilled over. Just in case, here’s a guide for how to alter a recipe for high altitude baking: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
I make cakes for family gatherings often, and this one was by far the biggest hit. I made double the recipe in 8inch pans, and it was completely gone by the end of the night (at a small gathering involving only close friends and family). Even a hit among the pickiest eaters.
Definitely keeping this one in my pocket.
Thank you for sharing.
Yay, Anjelica! That makes me so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit! Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
This is a lovely cake and really easy to make! But had a problem getting the coffee taste into the cake actually. I used instant expresso Medaglia del Oro, and used 50% more than the recipe. And I made quite a strong brew for the liquid coffee. The batter tasted divine….like melted Hagen Das ice cream but was very very faint in the baked cake, even checked with my neighbor’s taste buds as well. I can’t use coffee in the frosting since it’s a request for a unicorn cake with white frosting. I wondered whether you have used straight expresso as the liquid coffee…shouldn’t be bitter, with the sugar etc. And/or whether you have used a coffee syrup to brush on the layers while frosting. I guess probably not the latter since people have all felt the flavor —including that in the frosting—was fine. Since I can’t use the frosting, do you think that straight expresso in the batter would be enough? Thanks for any opinion….the cake is YUMMY…
Hi Martha! The vanilla espresso buttercream really makes the coffee flavor in the cake come alive. If you want to add more coffee flavor to just the cake, I would recommend your idea of making a coffee-flavored simple syrup to brush on. You could totally try straight espresso as the liquid in the cake, but I’ve never tried it so it would be an experiment. Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney, This recipe looks great I’m excited to try it. I have a bottle of coffee extract I’m trying to use up could I use it in this and what If anything would I substitute?
Many Thanks 🙂
Hi Catherine! Coffee extract sounds delicious and I didn’t even know there was such a thing! You could try subbing it in for half of the vanilla extract in the cake and buttercream recipes, but since I’ve never tried this recipe with coffee extract before, it will be an experiment. Let me know how it goes if you end up subbing it in!
I am a big fan of your vegan cake and all d frostings..as I am allergic to eggs is there any way I can bake your cakes without eggs means any substitute..
I would really appreciate if I can make your cakes without eggs.
Hi Ruby! I haven’t ever tried making eggless versions of my cake recipes, so I’m not sure what it would take to substitute the eggs and if it would be that simple. Since the eggs are structure builders in this cake my hunch is that the entire recipe would have to be reworked to account for adding more structure and without testing I can’t say for sure how to make it happen. However, I am working on more vegan cake recipes to add to the site (yay!) so stay tuned!
About to try this recipe but the number of eggs is not listed in the ingredients. Help please!
Thank you 😀
Hi Kris! The number of eggs is listed in the ingredients above as 5 eggs, room temperature.
Hello! I only have 9 inch tins, what are the measurements for three layers of 9 inch pans?
Hi Vansh! This recipe makes quite a lot of batter, so I would keep the measurements the same for a triple layer 9 inch cake. Enjoy!
Thank you so much just made it and it turned out really good!!!
So happy to hear that, Vansh! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!