Branch Crunch Cake Recipes

INDIVIDUAL CRUNCH CAKE

Steps:

• For the banana cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 12-by-18-inch jelly roll sheet pan with parchment and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Line a tray or baking sheet with parchment.
• Heat the butter in a medium saucepan until browned. You will see tiny rust-colored specks float to the top and the butter may become foamy when it is ready. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
• Whisk together the pastry flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside. Add the brown sugar and eggs to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Whisk the brown butter, bananas, sour cream and vanilla together in a medium bowl, then add to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared jelly roll sheet. Bake, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway during cooking, until the cake is light golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Cool the cake completely and freeze for 1 to 2 hours. Turn out the frozen cake onto a flat surface and use a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut out 24 even circles. Place the rounds on the prepared tray and cover until ready to assemble and frost.
• For the milk chocolate frosting: Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream on slow speed until smooth, glossy and free of lumps (do not fluff).
• Add the milk and vanilla and mix to incorporate.
• Add half of the confectioners' sugar and mix to incorporate. Add the rest of the sugar and mix on low speed until smooth.
• Add the milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the bowl as you go.
• For the toffee: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place a clean silicone mat on another 12-by-18-inch sheet pan. Combine the sugar, corn syrup and cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat without stirring. Add the butter and begin to stir until the caramel turns the color of peanut butter.
• Pour immediately onto the prepared baking sheet and bake until the toffee turns a deep amber color and spreads thinly on the pan, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool, then chop into tiny pieces that will be easy to chew.
• To assemble: Fill a pastry bag with some of the milk chocolate frosting.
• Top 2 mini cake rounds with frosting and about 2 teaspoons of chopped toffee. Stack these on top of each other and top with an unfrosted round of cake. Wrap the small cylinder in plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining cake rounds. Freeze until the frosting has set, about 30 minutes.
• Place a small cake on a revolving cake stand and pipe on the frosting to cover completely. With a small offset spatula, even out the surfaces of the little cake and swirl the frosting in a pretty, decorative pattern of your choice.
• Top each mini cake with crushed toffee and dust with confectioners' sugar.

HONEY ALMOND CRUNCH CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thickly butter a 6-cup loaf pan. Pour in 3 tablespoons of the melted butter, swirl to coat the bottom, and sprinkle in 1/4-cup of the brown sugar. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the honey and sprinkle the almonds evenly over the bottom.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg. Add the remaining 3/4-cup brown sugar and mix. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons melted butter and 1/2 cup honey and mix. Gradually mix in the buttermilk.
• In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Working in batches, and mixing after each addition, add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture. Mix until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out dry and almost clean (a few crumbs are okay) 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool until the topping is firm.

THE BEST LOUISIANA CRUNCH CAKE EVER

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.
• 2. Sift together cake flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Set aside.
• 3. In a large separate bowl, beat butter until very fluffy (approx. 5 minuets) then add 2 cups of sugar. Continue to beat until light and fluffy (approx. 2 more minutes).
• 4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, making sure that each egg is thoroughly blended before adding the next egg.
• 5. Mix in sour cream and vanilla extract.
• 6. Blend in some of the dry ingredients followed by some of the buttermilk in alternates. This is a way to ensure that the ingredients are being thoroughly blended together -- For example; add dry mixture followed by buttermilk, dry mixture, buttermilk dry mixture -- so on and so forth -- DO NOT OVER BEAT OTHERWISE CAKE WILL BECOME HARD AS A BRICK ONCE FINISHED BAKING!
• 7. Grease a bundt cake pan. I used a non stick angle food spring formed tube pan. If you do not have a non stick pan, be sure to grease your pan and dust with flour! Add in 1/4 cup of sugar to the bottom of pan and about 3 inches up the sides, tapping the pan to ensure even distribution. Leave excess sugar in pan. Sprinkle coconut flakes to the bottom of the pan. Scrape batter into the bundt pan and spread evenly.
• 8. Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour or until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean (if it comes out wet, bake another 10 minutes or so, if it comes out crumbly, you over baked the cake).
• 9. Let cake cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove from pan, making sure that the sugary coconut side is faced upward. Use a knife to scrape the sides if cake becomes stuck. (this step is very important otherwise your cake will continue to bake and will become very dry and completely stuck in the pan).
• 10. Drizzle glaze over the crunchy top portion of cake. Please use my Vanilla Almond Glaze recipe to complete this cake!