An amazingly moist cappuccino cake with whiskey, filled with luscious cream cheese and whipped cream filling.

Cappuccino Whiskey Cake with Cream Cheese Filling

This cappuccino cake is a grown-up cake with quite a bit of whiskey and coffee in it, so moist and delicious, so different in taste from your normal cake, really something special.

I do like making elaborate, festive cakes, you will find quite a few of them on the blog, cakes or tortes like this Dobos Torte or this fresh and Lemon or Lime Buttermilk Torte, they are really two of my favorite cakes.

I have made this a couple of weeks ago for my brother-in-law’s birthday and we all loved it. The only drawback was that I had to bake an extra cake for the kids.

My husband ate 3 slices on the birthday afternoon and the remaining 3 slices in one go the next evening at 10 o’clock!!! Well, he loves cappuccino and whiskey, so this cake was really his thing.

Ingredients

Cake base:

For the base I used an old and trusted recipe, I must have baked this at least 100 times during the past 10 years. It is easy to mix, it tastes great and it always turns out perfectly.
You will need flour (I use cake flour, but all-purpose is fine as well), cornstarch, baking powder, sugar, and eggs.

Filling:

Whiskey – I had Tullamore Dew, but any other good whiskey is fine.
Instant cappuccino powder, the classic kind.
Two gelatin sheets.
Egg yolks, sugar, cream cheese and heavy/double cream for whipping.

Soaking:

More whiskey
Brewed strong coffee or espresso

Decoration:

Heavy/double cream
Chocolate coffee beans, as many as you have cake slices
Some cappuccino powder to sprinkle over the cake
Chocolate shavings for the sides of the cake

How to make a cappuccino cake?

Making the cappuccino cake involves several steps, you will need some time, attention, and patience in order to make it properly. Work methodically, step by step.

Best tip: Use a digital kitchen scale for measuring the ingredients!

Step 1:

Make the batter for the cake. Bake in a springform of about 20 cm/ 8 inches. Remove from the tin and let cool completely on a wire rack.
You can make the cake a day in advance. Let cool completely, wrap well in aluminum foil or plastic wrap, and leave on the counter until ready to fill.
Tip: only grease and line the bottom of the springform, not the sides.

Step 2:

Prepare the egg yolk mixture for the filling au bain-marie.
Place the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl and the bowl on top of a pot filled with water. Make sure that the water doesn’t touch the bowl at all.
Heat gently and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens slightly, it will take about 10-13 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cappuccino powder. Let cool completely.
When the egg mixture has reached room temperature, add the cream cheese to it and incorporate, the mixture should be smooth.
Tips: really whisk continuously or the mixture will curdle. If the water gets too hot, remove the pot from the heat but continue whisking. Once the water has cooled down again, return it to the heat. NEVER let the water start to boil!

Step 3:

Make the filling with the gelatin.
Bloom the gelatin according to the packet’s instructions.
Place the soaked and lightly squeezed sheets in a pot large enough to hold all the filling. The pot should be rather high and narrow, don’t use a wide pot.
Dissolve while stirring continuously with a spoon, it will take seconds. Remove from the heat immediately.
Incorporate the cream cheese-cappuccino mixture one tablespoon at a time.
Tips: never let the gelatin start to simmer or bubble, it will be ruined. If it happens, discard it and start again. Only add the cream cheese mixture one tablespoon at a time and incorporate completely before adding the next tablespoon. After adding about half of the mixture in this manner, you can start adding about 2-3 tablespoons mixture at a time.
Place the mixture in the fridge until it only begins to set.
In the meantime, whip the cream.
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and add more whiskey to taste.
Tip: for a stronger whiskey flavor I added 3 more tablespoons.

Step 4:

Make the soaking mixture by mixing cooled strong coffee or espresso with the rest of the ingredients.

Step 5:

Assemble.
Slice the cake into 3 slices.
Cut one sheet of baking paper in two in the middle. Place the baking paper halves, slightly overlapping in the middle, on the cake platter. This will allow you to decorate the cake with whipped cream directly on the platter without making the platter dirty. When you are finished with decorating, carefully pull away the baking paper from underneath the cake.
Soak with some of the coffee mixture.
Spread half of the filling on top, add the second slice, soak it as well, and spread the remaining filling on top. Cover with the last cake slice, which will not be soaked anymore.
Tip: I use almost all the coffee mixture for soaking the cake and the result is really moist and delicious. If you like a less moist cake, use a little less of the soaking liquid.

Step 6:

Decorate.
Whip the heavy cream with sugar and vanilla extract.
Place about 3 tablespoons of in a piping bag fitted with a nice nozzle. Set aside.
Spread the remaining cream over the cappuccino cake and smooth nicely.
Mark the cake slices on the top of the cake, 12 to 16 slices, depending on how large you want them.
Pipe the remaining whipped cream on top of the cake and decorate with the chocolate coffee beans, if using them.
Sprinkle the top of the cake with some instant cappuccino powder and the sides of the cake with dark chocolate shavings.
Place in the fridge until ready to serve.