Biscoff Cake

Baking cakes and making desserts really was the getaway that led my interest in cooking when I was younger. When I had more time (well, when I was a student…) I would pretty much bake every weekend and desserts were my favourite thing to make when having friends over. Life is a lot more busy now, but I still very much enjoy having an occasion to bake a cake. And what better occasion than a good friend’s birthday! Biscoff was the chosen flavour and i found the perfect cake on Jane’s Patisserie‘s blog.

There are two versions of the cake and I opted for the simpler one (you’ll find the link below) and really enjoyed making it. It might seem complicated when you first see the cake, but actually it’s quite easy to make. Take your time with the decoration and if you have a free standing mixer, definitely use it. The quantities for the three sponges and the buttercream are quite big so mixing by hand or a hand-held mixer will be quite tiring. It’s definitely doable, though, if you don’t have a free standing mixer available. It might be an idea to split the buttercream mix into two bowls when mixing to make it a little easier to handle.

I really liked this cake recipe. It’s one of the first times I’ve used soft brown sugar instead of caster sugar (as per recipe) to make a sponge and I found that it really made the sponge very soft and it gave it a lovely brown hue. I might make this my norm when baking!

I opted for a slightly different decoration from Jane’s original one and I will talk you through it below. Jane also has a helpful video of making the cake, where you can also watch her decorating technique.

More birthday cake suggestions: Rainbow Crepe Cake | Red Velvet Rainbow Cake | Apple and Blackberry cake with Clotted Cream Icing

Biscoff Cake

Serves up to 15 | Prep 15 mins + cooling & decorating time | Cook 30 mins
A little effort

You’ll need:

Decoration

• Crushed Lotus Biscoff Biscuits;
• Whole Lotus Biscoff Biscuits;
• Edible Glitter, gold (optional).

 

First, make the cakes. Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan and line three 20cm/8inch sandwich cake tins with baking parchment – leave to the side. 

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and light brown sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the flour, eggs, baking powder and vanilla and beat again briefly till combined – try not to overbeat. 

If its really thick, mix in some whole milk to loosen. Divide the mixture between the three tins and smooth it over – bake for 25-30 minutes until the cakes are golden and  a skewer comes out clean.

Once baked, leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes or so, and then remove and leave to cool fully on a wire rack. If the cake has domed slightly, leave the cake to cool upside down to flatten it slightly so its easier to decorate later!

For The Decoration

Beat the butter with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes to loosen it. Gradually add the icing sugar on a slow speed until it is combined then speed the mixer up and mix for 3-4 minutes until thoroughly combined and smooth. 

Add in the Biscoff spread to the buttercream and continue mixing. If you need to, start gradually add the boiling water until you reach the desired texture – the icing should be able to keep it’s shape but be soft enough to spread easily. Keep on beating for 5 minutes until whipped and silky smooth.

Using your preferred piping tip (I used a large star nozzle tip), pipe some buttercream onto the bottom layer of the cake. Add the second layer and repeat. You might find it helpful to watch Jane’s video here to look at the piping technique. 

Add on the third layer of the cake and pipe on the rest of the buttercream – I went for piping buttercream shapes around the cake as an outer circle and a few in the middle circle. You can further decorate by adding whole Biscoff biscuits around the cake and/or some crushed ones in the middle of the cake. I also added edible golden glitter for extra sparkle.

 

Original recipe by Jane’s Patisserie, available online here. Video guide by Jane’s Patisserie, available online here.