Layer cakes can look daunting but this one is super easy to make as it’s only one cake – and who doesn’t love chocolate and butterscotch together!
Serves 10-12
Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour (or 2 cups plain flour + 1½ teaspoons baking powder)
⅓ cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup neutral cooking oil (I use grapeseed oil)
⅔ cup natural yoghurt
2 medium eggs
1 cup white sugar
⅓ cup loosely packed brown sugar
⅔ cup strong coffee (or use hot chocolate or boiling water for a kid-friendly version)
½ cup pecan nuts
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Store-bought butterscotch sauce for drizzling (I use Dollop or Barker’s)
Butterscotch buttercream
200g butter, at room temperature
3 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup quality store-bought butterscotch or caramel sauce (I use Dollop or Barker’s)
¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan bake. Grease and line a 20cm springform tin.
2. Place all the ingredients up until the coffee in a large bowl of a standing beater and beat until just combined. Add the hot coffee (or hot chocolate or boiling water) and beat for 1 minute. Scrape into the prepared tin. It’s quite liquidy but don’t worry.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 160°C and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Once cooked, allow cake to settle for 15 minutes in the tin, then turn out and cool completely.
4. To candy the pecans, toast them in a pan on a medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Pour maple syrup over top, toss to coat the nuts and cook for 1 minute. Tip the candied nuts out onto a tray or baking paper in a single layer to cool.
5. To make the buttercream, use an electric beater to beat butter for 1 minute, then add icing sugar and beat on low for about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and butterscotch (or caramel) and beat to combine until thick, fluffy and smooth – this can take 5 minutes or so. Add small amounts of boiling water if you need to loosen the mixture.
6. To assemble, slice the cake into three even layers. Spread the bottom layer with a third of the buttercream and repeat with the next two layers. Chill for a few hours to allow the cake to set.
7. To serve, top with pecans and drizzle with butterscotch sauce.
