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Smoking Chimney

Recipes from a working kitchen · Cape Town

Coffee Cake with Caramel and Cream Topping

By Marna Ross Updated 12 August 2026 4.50 from 34 ratings
The coffee cake with the caramel and cream topping is a recipe from my childhood. My mom used to make this recipe quite a lot and my brother used to love it. It all got eaten up vey quickly, never any left overs for the next day. Th coffee cake with caramel and cream topping are split into three parts, and might take a bit more time to make, but it is definitely worth making. You will enjoy the end result. If you would like to try another recipe from my childhood, feel free to make the macaroni cheese. 
A gorgeous multi-layer coffee cake layered with rich caramel sauce and fresh cream.
Prep 30 min
Cook 30 min
Total 1 h
Serves 12

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Ingredients

Cake

  • 375 ml cake flour
  • 1 ml salt
  • 10 ml baking powder
  • 60 ml milk
  • 60 ml water
  • 15 ml instant coffee
  • 30 ml butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 250 ml sugar
  • 5 ml vanilla essence

Coffee Syrup

  • 375 ml water
  • 170 ml sugar
  • 5 ml vanilla essence
  • 25 ml instant coffee
  • 50 ml brandy

Topping

  • 1 tin of caramel
  • 1 packet of caramel instant pudding
  • 250 ml milk
  • 250 ml fresh cream

Method

Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius

  2. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together and keep aside

  3. Heat the milk, water, instant coffee and butter together and keep aside

  4. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together

  5. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture

  6. Add the heated mixture to this, little by little

  7. Mix well and bake for about 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean

  8. Skip the cake syrup part for now and move over to the topping so the instant caramel pudding can set while the cake are baking, then afterwards move over to the cake syrup

Cake Syrup

  1. Add all the syrup ingredients in a sauce pan and cook together for 5 minutes

  2. Prick the cake with a kebab stick all over for the syrup to be absorbed and pour the syrup slowly little by little until used up

Topping

  1. Start with the caramel and cover(spread) the cake with the smooth caramel(whisk the caramel with an electric beater to smooth en it)

  2. The cake must be cooled when starting this step

  3. Beat the milk and the caramel instant pudding and let it set in fridge

  4. Whisk the cream until stiff and fold into the caramel instant pudding

  5. Spread this over the caramel layer

  6. Garnish with grated chocolate or raspberries

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