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tiramisu cake sliced

tiramisu-esque cake

Rich vanilla cake with a cinnamon-spiced coffee soak and tangy whipped cream, what could be better? Not much. This dessert is quick, easy, and comes together with pantry staples. You're sure to make this again and again!
Vanilla cake is loosely based on this recipe by Smitten Kitchen. It's a summer classic!
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Ingredients
  

for the cake

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup milk (I used whole milk!)
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

for the coffee soak

  • 1 cup / 8 fl oz water
  • 1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee, see notes*
  • ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, or at least a pinch!

for the whipped cream

  • 1 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • a pinch of kosher salt
  • cocoa powder, for finishing touches

Instructions
 

for the cake

  • Preheat your oven to 350. Butter/grease an 8x8 pan.
  • With a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugar. Mix for at least 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
  • Add egg and mix to combine. Don't forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl!
  • Add your vanilla, milk, and sour cream. Mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl before adding dry ingredients.
  • Whisk together your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Then mix into your butter/sugar mixture, stopping when there's a few streaks of flour left. Finish mixing by hand. This ensures you don't overmix!
  • Pour into prepared pan, spreading the batter as evenly as possible.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. This is *exactly* 28 minutes in my oven!

for the coffee soak

  • While your cake is baking, start the soak.
  • Combine your soak ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly.
  • Remove from heat once your mixture boils for a few seconds. Set aside to cool.

for...soaking the cake (lolz)

  • Once the cake is out of the oven, prick all over with a toothpick. Loosen the edges of the cake gently from the sides of the pan.
  • Pour your coffee soak evenly over the cake. (Yep you're using all of it!) The soak tends to collect in corners, so try to distribute evenly over the cake itself before getting to the corners. Or just claim those corners for yourself--that's what I do! ;)
  • Let the cake cool completely. You can also let it cool a bit before putting it in the fridge if you're wanting to expedite the process! (I always am.)

for the whipped cream

  • Pour your cream into a medium sized bowl and place in the freezer, along with the whisk attachment from either a handheld mixer or stand mixer, for about 5 minutes. You want your cream, bowl, and whisk REALLY cold here.
  • Add the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and pinch of salt to the bowl. Whip until thick and creamy!

to assemble

  • Spread the whipped cream evenly over the cake. Top with a dusting of cocoa powder.
  • Back to the fridge! Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and let chill for at least 30 minutes. Then slice, serve, and enjoy!
  • Cake lasts about 4-5 days tightly covered in the fridge. But it's never lasted that long at our house. ;)

Notes

As a reminder: this cake is meant to have a coffee soak, but that also means it gets a bit soft. It's the nature of the dessert! 
For the coffee soak: I used instant coffee because REMEMBER DALGONA COFFEE? Yeah, still working through my stash from that. If you don't have instant, 8 fl oz of strong, freshly brewed coffee works just fine.