Baking for Others: Alex’s Birthday CakePecan-Espresso Birthday Cake with Coffee Icing

Name: Baking for Others: Alex’s Birthday CakePecan-Espresso Birthday Cake with Coffee Icing
Yield: Serves 14
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups sugar; 5 1/2 cups pecans halves; 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (I use Medaglia D’Oro); 14 large eggs, separated; 1 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar; 16 ounces Tofutti cream cheese, at room temperature; 8 ounces Earth Balance natural shortening, at room temperature; 4 ounces Spectrum organic all-vegetable shortening, at room temperature; 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar; 1/4 cup maple syrup; about 1 1/2 tablespoons coffee extract, or to taste; 1/4 cup chocolate-covered espresso beans, coarsely chopped

By biggirlssmallkitchen · From Open Recipes · 12 ingredients

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Why it works: Coffee and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,497 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells buttery, creamy. The science ↓

Baking for Others: Alex’s Birthday CakePecan-Espresso Birthday Cake with Coffee Icing

Serves 14

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

451Calories

9 gProtein

34 gFat

29 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Pecan	1 half (4g)	20
Coffee	not in our table	0
Bean	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By biggirlssmallkitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Coffee + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,497 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).
Pecans + chocolatetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together804 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Pecans + cream cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together465 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Pecans + maple syruptop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together274 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

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