When I posted the recipe for bruschetta with tomatoes, basil, pimiento and cheese, I meant to follow it up with a recipe for biscotti to distinguish between the two (in a nutshell, bruschetta is toasted bread while biscotti is twice baked cake). But other interesting dishes were cooked and posted instead.
A few days ago, I recalled how I intended to write about biscotti but my mind digressed. Instead of plain biscotti, I imagined how wonderful it would be to toast slices of butter cake, top them with whipped cream and garnish them with fruit slices. By some strange twist of fate, we were watching Giada At Home yesterday and guess what she prepared for dessert? Toasted pound cake smothered with citrusy cream and mascarpone frosting and orange segments.
My mind was working fast as I watched her prepare the dessert and I told Speedy I would make something similar. We had cream cheese, I said to him, which I’d substitute for the mascarpone. I had already spied upon a can of mandarin oranges in the fridge… then Speedy made a violent objection. No, no, no, he said, he had other plans for the mandarin oranges. Never mind, I thought to myself, there are other ways to execute this dessert.
In the end, this was how my toasted cake looked.
I baked a butter cake, sliced it, drizzled the slices with melted butter and a little honey then I toasted the slices until lightly crisp. I piped the cream cheese frosting on top of the cake slices, sprinkled them with toasted crushed walnuts then drizzled everything with chocolate syrup. This toasted butter cake with walnuts and cream cheese frosting has got to be one of the best desserts I have made in my entire life. Seriously, who would have thought that plain butter cake can be served in such a fantastic way?
Recipe: Toasted butter cake with walnuts and cream cheese frosting
Ingredients
- butter cake (get the recipe), baked in a 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ loaf pan
- 1/4 c. of melted salted butter
- honey
- cream cheese frosting (get the recipe)
- 1/3 c. of chopped / crushed walnuts, toasted and cooled
- chocolate syrup (I used Hershey’s)
Instructions
- Before you start assembling your dessert, make sure that the cake has cooled completely.
- Cut the cake into one-inch slices. Choose the four largest pieces (the ones cut from the middle are often the largest because the cake rises higher at the center). Wrap the rest in cling film and keep in the fridge (I have other things you can do with them which I’ll post later).
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Lay the cake slices flat and drizzle the melted butter equally over them.
- Next, drizzle honey over the cake. I didn’t use a lot of honey — just enough to caramelize the top to create a crisp crust.
- Bake the cake slices for seven to eight minutes. Cool.
- Pipe (or you can just use an offset spatula) the cream cheese frosting on the toasted cakes.
- Sprinkle the cuts on top of the frosting. Drizzle chocolate syrup over the cakes.
- Then, indulge. The textures in this dessert are so many. The salted butter and the saltiness of the cream cheese contrast wonderfully with the sweetness of everything else. Then, the crunch of the nuts and the toasted sides of the cake… Oh, just try it. We are so having this over the holidays.
Quick notes
If you want to serve this dessert over the holidays, make the preparation stress-free by baking the cake and making the frosting the day before. Just keep them chilled in the fridge.
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 8 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
Ms. Connie,
I can not help but notice the beautiful dessert plates and table cloth. You are already set for the Christmas season!
Hehehe we’re rearranging the house and I’m trying out a few visual effects.
That looks awesome! Can I toast the butter cake using an oven toaster?
Yes, you can. But if your toaster oven has no thermostat control, you’ll have to watch very closely.
That is a perfect little dessert.
This entry somewhat reminds of your “something like tiramisu” entry wherein you used mamon tostado instead of lady fingers or sponge cake for the base.
I would love to try “tiramisu” with slightly toasted butter cake or this recipe with slightly toasted mamon. I think they will work out great!