If there are fun-sized Almond Joys anywhere in my general proximity, I will eat them. All of them. I just love the flavor combination of sweet coconut, milk chocolate, and almond. It’s a taste trifecta and if you agree, you’re going to LOVE this cake! Just imagine all the textures and flavors in an Almond Joy candy bar, only in cake form, and behold this beauty:

This Almond Joy inspired cake starts with a delicious, fluffy Coconut Cake. It’s packed with so much flavor and texture between the coconut extract, shredded coconut, and canned coconut milk. And side note on the coconut milk: notice that I said canned. You’ll find canned coconut milk in the Asian foods aisle or the baking aisle of your grocery store and it’s loads different than boxed coconut milk (for drinking). The canned version is much more creamy and condensed, making it perfect for baking, so be sure to get the right coconut milk for this cake! It will make all the difference! 

The Coconut Cake turned out so delicious that I just sat there eating a bowl of cake scraps for a good ten minutes. It’s so moist due to the sour cream and creamy coconut milk, and the texture with shredded coconut is unreal. I thought to pair it with straight up Almond Buttercream, but adding some coconut extract to the buttercream really brought out the perfect coconut-almond flavor you’d find in an Almond Joy. So Coconut-Almond Buttercream was born, and it could not be a more tasty compliment to this Coconut Cake!

You can’t have an Almond Joy inspired cake without some milk chocolate, so I whipped up some Milk Chocolate Ganache for drizzling between layers and dripping the top of the cake. After decorating it with some almond slices, a Coconut-Almond Buttercream border, and some more shredded coconut, it looks just as heavenly as it tastes. If you’re as much of an Almond Joy fan as I am, this is going to make your cakey dreams come true!

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Almond Joy Cake Recipe

Layers of fluffy, flavorful Coconut Cake with Coconut-Almond Buttercream and Milk Chocolate Ganache.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Coconut Cake

• 3 1/4 Cups (344g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups (330g) white granulated sugar
• 5 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup (168g) sour cream, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1 1/4 Cups (296ml) canned full-fat coconut milk, room temperature
• 1 Cup shredded sweetened coconut

Coconut-Almond Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp coconut extract
• 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt

Milk Chocolate Ganache

• 1/2 Cup (92g) milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream

Additional Garnishes (optional)

• shredded sweetened coconut
• almond slices

Instructions

Make The Coconut Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-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, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter on high for two minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Slowly add the egg whites while mixing on low until well combined. Add sour cream, vanilla extract, and coconut extract 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 canned coconut milk slowly and mix until just incorporated. Gently fold in the shredded coconut by hand, making sure you scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl without overmixing.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 full) and bake for 40-45 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 Coconut-Almond Buttercream

• With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
• Add the powdered sugar, a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Add vanilla extract, almond extract, coconut extract, milk, and salt. Mix on medium-low for another minute or two until fully incorporated.

Make The Milk Chocolate Ganache

• Place milk chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal) and set aside. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm heavy whipping cream until it just starts to boil. I always look for small bubbles forming around the edge and a soft boil starting in the middle. When you see that it’s just starting to boil, pour it into your bowl of chocolate and let sit for twenty seconds.
• Whisk the mixture together until it’s uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. Cool ganache at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until the ganache itself is room temperature.

Assembly

• Torte the Coconut Cake layers to level off the tops. Place the first cake layer onto a cake circle and fill it with Coconut-Almond Buttercream, then drizzle with a little bit of Milk Chocolate Ganache (make sure it’s room temp or cooler). Place the next cake layer on top and repeat the filling process before adding the last layer of Coconut Cake on top. Crumb coat with Coconut-Almond Buttercream and place the cake in the refrigerator for thirty minutes to firm up before your final frosting.
• To achieve the design pictured, frost the cake with a final layer of Coconut-Almond Buttercream and add almond slices around the bottom of the cake. Drip the cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache (for tips on dripping a cake read this post!). Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M and fill it with more Coconut-Almond buttercream, then pipe a rope border around the top edge. Fill in the center with shredded coconut and sprinkle some on top of the rope border, then add more almond slices to the rope border.

Notes

Make Ahead Tips: the cake layers can be made ahead and stored (wrapped in plastic) at room temperature for up to one day. Alternatively, you can wrap the cake layers in plastic and store them in the freezer for up to two months. When you’re ready to use them, thaw them to room temperature before continuing with the frosting and decorating process.

The buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day. Alternatively, you can store it 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 on medium for one minute to bring it back to frosting consistency. 

The chocolate ganache 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 by microwaving it in ten second intervals, stirring after each one, until it’s drip consistency. 

Did you make this Almond Joy cake? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below or feel free to tag me on Instagram. I love to see what you’re caking!

The post Almond Joy Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

I have an ongoing list of cake flavors I want to make, and this Golden Milk Cake recipe has been on it for two whole years! I just love golden milk lattes and thought a layer cake version would be a fun flavor to try in cake form. So when I was killing time on baby watch in my final weeks of pregnancy, I decided to break out the turmeric and get a little creative in the kitchen. Not only did I learn some surprising things in the testing process, but the end result was so tasty and timely for Fall baking. Whether you’re a turmeric tea lover or just looking for something different than your average tea cake, this one’s for you!

The thing I love most about a golden milk latte is the spice blend, so I made sure to incorporate a good amount of spice in this recipe with turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger. And since my milk of choice for a golden milk latte is always coconut milk, I decided to use it as the liquid in this cake and the buttercream. Not only did coconut milk complement the flavor profile perfectly, it added a great amount of moisture to the cake without making it dense at all. I usually add sour cream to my cake recipes for moisture, but with the coconut milk, this recipe doesn’t need any extra moisture! From the taste to the texture, this Golden Milk Cake is exactly what I was hoping for. 

Let’s talk about the color of this cake, because I learned some science-y things about that in my recipe testing. In my first trial, I used baking powder and baking soda as leavening agents, and while the cake rose beautifully and tasted great, the color was reddish orange instead of the classic turmeric yellow color I was envisioning. It looked like a sweet potato cake!

After doing a little research, I realized that when turmeric comes into contact with alkaline (or base) solutions like baking soda, it turns the end result red. Being the perfectionist I am, I just couldn’t settle for a Golden Milk Cake that was not a golden yellow color, so I tweaked the recipe to omit the baking soda and include more baking powder. The result: a tasty Golden Milk Cake that is perfectly turmeric colored!

One important side note about turmeric though: it can stain things. Be careful not to get it on your clothes or kitchen towels! 

I decided to fill and frost this Golden Milk Cake with Coconut Buttercream just because the sweetness of the coconut pairs so perfectly with the spices in the cake. Like I mentioned before, coconut milk is my milk of choice when it comes to an actual golden milk latte, so incorporating the flavor of coconut was a no-brainer for me. If you’d rather use my Vanilla Buttercream recipe, I’m certain that it would be a great flavor pairing as well. But trust me, the Coconut Buttercream takes this cake beyond. 

Since I love the color of turmeric so much, I tinted some of the Coconut Buttercream with a custom mix of Americolor Dijon + Lemon Yellow + Orange until I ended up with the perfect turmeric hue. Then, I used it to create an ombrè of color that goes from turmeric to white, piped an open star border with Wilton Tip 6B, and sprinkled some turmeric over the top for an extra pop of color. Any way you end up decorating this cake, I can assure you that it’s delicious if you’re a golden milk latte lover like me! Enjoy! 

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Golden Milk Layer Cake

Inspired by one of my favorite Fall treats: the golden milk latte! Layers of moist, fluffy golden milk flavored cake (spiced with turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger), filled and frosted with decadent coconut buttercream.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Golden Milk Cake

• 2 3/4 Cups (290g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
• 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 Cups (360g) granulated white sugar
• 3 whole eggs, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 Cups (296ml) full fat coconut milk

Coconut Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp pure coconut extract
• 3 Tbsp coconut milk, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Make the Golden Milk Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle 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, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. 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 sugar and continue to mix on medium-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 the vanilla 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. Then, add the coconut milk slowly 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 (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick, but pourable. 
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 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 Coconut Buttercream

• With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes. 
• With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one. 
• Add vanilla extract, coconut extract, coconut milk, and salt and mix on medium-low for another two minutes until fully incorporated. 

Assembly

• Once the Golden Milk Cake layers have cooled completely, fill and frost with Coconut Buttercream. To create the design pictured, tint one cup of buttercream a deep yellow color with the food color gels of your choice (I used a mix of Americolor Dijon + Lemon Yellow + Orange until I ended up with the perfect turmeric hue). Mix a lighter yellow shade by combining the darker yellow with some uncolored buttercream and create a messy ombrè by adding the darkest yellow on the bottom third of the cake, followed by the lighter yellow until finally adding the uncolored buttercream to the top third and top of the cake. Keep adding and smoothing until you like what you see.
• Pipe a star border around the top of the cake with the uncolored Coconut Buttercream using Wilton Tip 6B, then sprinkle with ground turmeric.

Notes

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The Golden Milk Cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
2. The Coconut 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 in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency. 

To Make As Cupcakes: fill cupcake tins no more than 2/3 of the way full and bake at 350ºF for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Yields about 36-40 cupcakes. 

Did you make this cake recipe? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco in a photo on Instagram to show me – I love to see what you create with my recipes!

The post Golden Milk Layer Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

One of my favorite things to do in Portland is go meet a friend for Pip’s Doughnuts and Chai. Their tasty mini doughnuts are hands down my favorite in the city and I’ve even topped some birthday cakes with them over the years. When the pandemic forced so many local businesses I love to close up shop, Pip’s did something extraordinary: they adapted by launching a new way to do business, all while keeping the community at the heart of what they do. Instead of serving up doughnuts these days, they’re hard at work bottling their chai concentrate and giving 10% of the profits back to other service businesses in Portland. Not only is their ability to launch Community Chai during these wild times inspiring, but their chai concentrate is incredible.

 It’s more important than ever to support small businesses both creatively and financially, and making #CakesForSmallBiz is one of my favorite ways to do it. So when I saw that Pip’s was bottling their chai concentrate to keep the lights on during this season of uncertainty, I was all in on placing an order. Not only is their chai tasty for drinking, I also thought it would make the perfect cake ingredient (it totally did!). Side note: if you’re looking for a creative way to support your fave small businesses right now, consider making a cake with local ingredients or designing a cake inspired by the businesses you love. They could use all the help right now! 

Let’s talk about this chai concentrate. There are five different blends to choose from and I am a firm believer that any of them would be perfect in this cake recipe (and most definitely tasty for making at-home lattes). I chose the Heart of Gold blend and the flavor profile is just so good. The description: “a smooth blend of toasted coconut, golden turmeric, ginger, grassy sencha green tea, and Assam tea. Brewed with whole coconut flakes, Heart of Gold has a naturally creamy body. The chai we’d drink in a hammock under a palm tree.” Not only did it work perfectly in this cake recipe, I enjoyed this blend in latte-form so much that upon first sip I was ready to place my order for a second bottle! I’m hooked. 

For this cake, I used my Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake recipe as a base and subbed in a mixture of this Heart of Gold concentrate + whole milk (so, basically a latte) to infuse it with these lovely flavors. Spoiler alert: it worked! This Chai Cake is incredibly soft and moist, fragrant (my kitchen smelled amazing), and all of the added spices take the flavor to the next level. Since it’s brewed with whole coconut flakes, pairing this Heart of Gold-infused cake with Coconut Buttercream was only natural. The combination of spicy chai and refreshing coconut are a total match made in chai cake heaven! They truly complete each other.

For decorating this Coconut Chai Cake, I was really inspired by the look of when you pour milk into the chai concentrate and the two colors swirl together. To capture that moment, I tinted some of the Coconut Buttercream a deep brownish orange (using Americolor Chocolate Brown + Orange) to match the color of the chai concentrate, then mixed a few in-between shades and frosted them onto the cake in a messy ombrè design. I used Wilton Tip 4B to create the swirls around the top edge and sprinkled toasted coconut flakes on top (details on how to toast coconut flakes in the recipe notes below). 

You can decorate this cake however you’d like – keep the frosting one color, add toasted coconut to the sides, or create whatever you’re envisioning! One thing is for sure though, this cake is insanely tasty. I have not been able to stop enjoying it, and am quickly finding out that being quarantined with a whole cake while pregnant is a really silly situation to be in (send help!).  
If you’re wanting to make this cake but don’t have access to Community Chai concentrate (it’s only available in Portland), there are substitutions in the recipe notes so you can work with what you’ve got!

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Pip’s “Heart of Gold” Coconut Chai Cake

Layers of spiced Chai Cake infused with delicious golden chai concentrate, paired with refreshing Coconut Buttercream and toasted coconut flakes – a match made in chai cake heaven!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Chai Layer Cake

• 1/2 Cup (120ml) chai concentrate (I'm using Community Chai's Heart of Gold blend)*
• 3/4 Cups (180ml) whole milk
• 2 3/4 Cups (290g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 Cups (358g) granulated white sugar
• 3 whole eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup (112g) sour cream, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

Coconut Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp pure coconut extract
• 3 Tbsp coconut milk, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Make the Chai Layer Cake

• Whisk together the chai concentrate and whole milk. Set aside until it's reached room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle 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, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. 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 sugar and continue to mix on medium-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 (room temperature!) chai milk mixture slowly 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 (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick, but pourable. 
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 30-35 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 Coconut Buttercream

• With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes. 
• With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one. 
• Add vanilla extract, coconut extract, coconut milk, and salt and mix on medium-low for another two minutes until fully incorporated. 

Assembly

• Once the Chai Layer Cakes have cooled completely, fill and frost the layers with Coconut Buttercream. To create the design pictured, tint one cup of buttercream a deep brown-orange with the food color gels of your choice (I used a mix of Americolor Chocolate Brown and Orange). Mix two in-between shades and create a messy ombrè by adding the darkest color on the bottom third of the cake, followed by the second darkest (and so on) until finally adding the uncolored buttercream to the top third and top of the cake. Keep adding and smoothing until you like what you see.
• Pipe swirls of the uncolored buttercream around the top edge of the cake using your favorite piping tip (I used Wilton Tip 4B), then sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes**

Notes

* You may substitute the chai concentrate in this recipe with any other brand, or by steeping one chai tea bag in 1 1/4 Cups (296ml) of boiled whole milk. Either way, make sure the mixture is room temperature before using it in this cake recipe. 

** To make toasted coconut flakes, preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add a single layer of sweetened (or unsweetened) coconut flakes and bake for 5 minutes, stir, then bake for an additional 2-3 minutes until golden brown. 

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The Chai Cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
2. The Coconut 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 in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency. 

Did you make this Coconut Chai Cake recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments below. And if you used Community Chai concentrate in the recipe, be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco and @communitychai on Instagram to show us! We’d love to see your chai cake creations.

The post Pip’s “Heart of Gold” Coconut Chai Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.