Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake
This Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake is like the lovechild of coffee cake and chocolate cake! This decadent cake features a moist, fudgy chocolate cake base that is incredibly easy to make and jam-packed with rich chocolate flavor. Forget the frosting, because this Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake has a toffee streusel topping! This topping is buttery, crunchy, and sweet, with a strong caramel undertone thanks to the brown sugar and toffee bits!
How to Make the Chocolate Cake
1. Combine wet ingredients: Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla, sour cream, and oil, to a large mixing bowl, then beat together with a whisk until the mixture is smooth and well-combined.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Bloom the cocoa: Add the sifted cocoa powder to the warm coffee. Mix until smooth, and then add to the wet mixture from above.
4. Add the dry & wet together: Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and whisk together until smooth. Try not to overmix though!
5. Add to pan & bake: Pour the Chocolate Cake batter into a cake pan, then place into the oven to bake.
6. Add Streusel: After about 30 minutes of baking, carefully sprinkle the toffee streusel topping on top of the cake, then cook for an additional 20 minutes.
What is Dutch Processed Cocoa
This Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake recipe calls for Dutch processed cocoa as the cocoa powder. ‘What the heck is Dutch processed cocoa powder’, you ask? Dutch processed cocoa is created by alkalizing regular cocoa powder to bring it up to a pH of 7. This process sort of strips the acidic properties out of the cocoa powder, leaving it with a much more mild, less astringent taste. By removing the astringency, the flavor of chocolate is able to shine through more, creating the illusion that it tastes more chocolatey! Definitely what we want for a chocolate cake recipe!
Be warned, however, that regular cocoa powder and dutch-processed cocoa powder cannot always be used interchangeably. Recipes that include baking soda need an acid to activate the baking soda to induce rising. In many recipes this ingredient is cocoa powder (pH=5.3). Therefore, using Dutch processed cocoa powder, which has a neutral pH, wouldn’t activate the baking soda, and another acidic ingredient would be required. For example, in this Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake recipe, that other acidic ingredient is sour cream (pH=4.5).
‘Blooming’ the Cocoa
You’ll notice in the recipe instructions that you have to add the cocoa powder to hot coffee before adding it to the batter. This is known as ‘blooming’ that cocoa. The reasoning behind this process is that the hot liquid dissolves flavor particles within the cocoa powder, making the final product taste more chocolatey! While we’re at it, you may also be wondering why these Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake as well as many other chocolate cake or cupcake recipes, are made with coffee. Again, the reasoning for this is because the coffee actually intensifies that chocolate flavor! Neat, huh?!
How to Make Streusel Topping
To make the toffee streusel topping for this Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake, you want to start by whisking together the flour and brown sugar in a large bowl. Next, add in the cubed cold butter and begin working the butter into the flour/sugar with your hands until it begins to form into little pea-shaped bits. Lastly, add in the toffee pieces and work them into the streusel with your hands quickly. Place the streusel into the fridge for about half an hour to resolidify. This cooling period in the fridge causes the butter to reharden, which is essential to a perfectly crunch streusel topping.
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake
Ingredients
Toffee Streusel Topping
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) All Purpose Flour,, † measured correctly
- 1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Cold Unsalted Butter,, cubed
- 1/2 cup Toffee Bits
Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake
- 2 ¾ cups (330g) All Purpose Flour,, † measured correctly
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 3/4 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder,, regular cocoa can be used too
- 3/4 cup Hot Freshly Brewed Coffee
Instructions
Toffee Streusel Topping
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and brown sugar until well-combined.
- Add cold, cubed butter to the mixing bowl, and work the butter into the flour/sugar with your hands or a pastry cutter. Work until all the butter has been worked in and the mixture is crumbly and resembles a bunch of small peas. Next, add in the toffee bits and work the toffee into the mixture with your hands, until it is well dispersed and clings to the streusel crumbs.
- Place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 10” springform cake pan with cooking spray and round parchment. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, add eggs, sugar, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Whisk together until smooth and well combined.
- In a small mixing bowl or 2-cup liquid measuring cup, add the hot coffee and cocoa powder. Whisk together until well-combined and smooth. Allow to sit for 2 minutes, then add the cocoa mixture into the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients (eggs, sour cream, etc.), then mix until smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix until smooth. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and place into the oven for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, very carefully (if you’re not careful it could deflate the cake) sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the cake. Return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes, over until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Can light brown sugar be substituted? Also could this be made in a 9 inch cake pan?
Light brown sugar can definitely be substituted! As for the 9” pan, I wouldn’t recommend it because it fills up the 10” pan quite well. I would either reduce by 1/2 and use a 7” or 8” pan, or you can try reducing by 1/4 for a 9” pan!
What toffee bits do you recommend. Is the toffee chocolate covered?
Hi just regular toffee bits, sometimes they’re also called Skor bits. I bought mine in bulk, however Hershey’s Chipits makes packages of them too!