Toffee cake is a bake for anyone with a sweet tooth: a smooth, soft but richly flavoured sponge made with cocoa, coffee or chocolate, topped with a fragrant caramel sauce made from real butter, and given extra crunch with cashew nuts.
A Little Cake History
The word "cake" has its roots in the Viking word kaka. Its history begins in 1843, when English chemist Alfred Bird (1811 to 1878) discovered baking powder, allowing him to make bread without yeast for the first time. Thailand has known cakes and other baked goods for more than 60 years, but at first they were unfamiliar to most people; only a small group exposed to Western culture, and those close to foreigners doing business in Thailand, knew about them. After the Second World War ended, Thailand began trading with other countries, and many kinds of cakes and baked goods became much more accessible to Thai people.
What Is Toffee Cake?
Toffee cake is a very popular cake with the aroma of coffee (people who do not drink coffee choose cocoa or chocolate instead) and caramel-coated nuts (cashews). The batter is whipped until fluffy like a chiffon sponge and flavoured with fragrant coffee (or cocoa or chocolate), then baked until cooked. It is then topped with caramel sauce and toasted cashews and baked again until perfectly fragrant and crisp. Once done, it is left to cool before being cut into pieces and served with tea or hot coffee.
Toffee cake is a dessert you can make yourself, as the steps are not too complicated. Many people even make it to sell, adapting the recipe into their own version.
Making It Your Own
You will find plenty of toffee cake recipes online to suit your taste. If you love coffee, just follow a coffee recipe. If you don't, you can switch to cocoa or chocolate, or come up with your own recipe using green tea or strawberry for something new and unique.
Toffee cake is quite sweet, so if you prefer it less sweet, reduce the amount of caramel. And if you don't like cashews, swap them for any nut you prefer.
