You’ve seen all the CCC’s (chocolate chip cookies), but wait till you see these CCCCC’s (coffee chocolate  caramel citrus cakes). It’s the abbreviation you never knew of, but are going to need once you know all about it.

*Note: This recipe was created in partnership with Hedessent.ca and references a few of their products.

INGREDIENTS

GROUP A: BUNDT CAKES

• 1/4 cup olive oil + more for greasing the bundt pan

• 1/4 cup whole milk

• 1/4 tsp Hedessent Tahitian Bean flavour 

• 4-5 drops Hedessent Mocha flavour 

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 egg

• 3/4 cup cake flour + more for dusting the bundt pan

• 3/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 ½ tbsp instant espresso

GROUP B: CARAMEL ICING

• 1 tbsp whole milk

• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

• 5-6 drops Hedessent Tahitian Bean flavour

• 5-6 drops Hedessent Caramel flavour

• Brown/dark orange food colouring (optional)

GROUP C: BERGAMOT WHIPPED BUTTERCREAM

• 110 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

• 1/3 cup granulated brown sugar

• 36 g heavy whipping cream

• Pinch of salt

• 5-6 drops Hedessent Bergamot flavour

• 4 drops Hedessent Tahitian Bean

GROUP D: OPTIONAL GARNISHES

• Dried citrus peel or dehydrated citrus wheels

• Citrus powder (from crushed dried peels)

METHOD

1. Bundt cakes: Preheat the oven to 360 F. Lightly oil and dust the mini bundt cake mold pan, or any other mold of choice, with flour. Whisk the oil, milk, vanilla, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk well. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder and mix gently till the batter just about comes together. Be careful not to over-mix. Scoop little dollops of the batter into the oiled and dusted molds. Bake for 15 minutes at first, then increase time in increments of 5 minutes only if needed, till a skewer inserted into each cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely on a wire rack for at least an hour prior to decorating.

2. Caramel icing: Mix all the ingredients to form a smooth, pourable icing.

3. Bergamot whipped buttercream: Add the butter and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and beat on high speed till the butter is creamed fully, i.e., till the mixture is as close to looking white as possible. The texture should feel smoother too – there should be very minimal granularity in the mix. Add the powdered sugar and beat on high speed again till fully integrated and smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat on medium-high speed to form a smooth, pipeable buttercream. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature till it’s time to pipe on the cakes.

4. Optional garnishes: These are very easy to make even at the last minute. Peel a few oranges or mandarins and rub the peels with a little sugar. Dry them in the oven at 200 – 220 F, right after the cakes have baked. Or, you can also microwave the peels on high heat in increments of 30 seconds till the peels are almost entirely crisp. Leave them out to air dry on a paper towel till you put together all the other elements. Crush some of the peels using a mortar & pestle or blitz them in a blender/processor to make a citrus powder.

5. Assembly: Once the bundts have completely cooled down, pipe swirls of buttercream over each one, drizzle the caramel icing liberally, top with a piece of dried citrus peel, and finish by dusting some citrus powder for a flavour explosion on your tastebuds.