Here’s a cake that may seem rather “off-the-wall”, but trust me, it’s delicious. I was tempted to call it a “Canadian Breakfast Cake”, or should that be “American”? Either way, I decided that if this flavour combination works with pancakes it’s worth trying in a cake. And, in keeping with that theme, it had to be a big cake.

Makes: a large cake giving about 12 large slices.

Level: Quite easy, there’s nothing complicated.

Time: Crisping the bacon can take a while and it’s a bit of a faff, but it’s necessary. Cake prep: about 20 minutes; baking: 30 – 35 minutes; Filling, assembling and decorating: this can vary, between 20 – 45 minutes depending in how much you choose to do.

Need: Three 20cm/8” cake tins, ideally with loose bottoms. I used a stand mixer, but you can manage without.

Cake ingredients

12 large slices of bacon
300g/10oz unsalted butter, softened
300g/10oz golden caster sugar
5 medium eggs
300g/10oz self-raising flour
20ml/1fl oz milk
50ml – 60ml (2fl oz) maple syrup (Plus a little for decorating later)
100g – 125g (5oz) pecan (or walnut) pieces

Filling/topping ingredients

300g – 325g* (11oz) Mascarpone and/or Philadelphia full fat cream cheese
75g – 100g* (4oz) softened butter
300g – 400g* (14oz) icing sugar
50ml – 60ml (2fl oz) maple syrup

* I tend to mix fillings according to the density required, adjusting as I go by adding more or less icing sugar and/or syrup. The end product needs to be firm, but still spreadable.

Although all three cakes were fully baked together their colours varied. For me, that wasn’t a problem with a cake I was sharing with friends at church, but if this happens for you and you’d like to cover it up, make more filling and use it to cover the sides.

Method

1. Cook the bacon until crispy, either under a grill or in a dry frying pan. Dab off any oily residue with kitchen paper. When cool, cut the bacon into small pieces and set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C / fan 180°C / 400°F / Gas 5. Grease and line the bottom of the three tins.

3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time with a tsp of the pre-weighed flour each time. Stir in the milk and maple syrup then fold in the remaining flour, taking care to scrape the bottom of the bowl in the process, leaving no dry flour particles.

4. Stir in most of the bacon and nut pieces. (Retain about a quarter – some will be used when layering the cake, some will go on top. And/or, reserve a few pecan halves to use on top.)

5. Divide the cake mixture equally between the three tins and bake for 25 – 35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean and dry. Leave the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes then turn out onto wire racks to cool fully.

6. To make the filling mix the mascarpone, cream cheese and butter with the icing sugar then add in the maple syrup. Mix carefully at first then much more vigorously, adjusting for thickness as you go. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for it to firm up.

7. Level the cakes with a sharp serrated knife. Toss the remaining bacon and nut pieces in the reserved maple syrup. Use a third of the mixture with a third of the bacon and nut pieces* between each cake to stack them then finish off with the rest on top. If you have any maple syrup left over, drizzle it over the top as well. (* If you intend using pecan halves on top you could put all your smaller pieces between the two cakes as you won’t need any on top.)

Gallery 1 (process)

Gallery 2 (process)

Gallery 3 (process)

I hope you enjoy this lovely cake. If you want more cake recipes click this link, or have a look at my site for lots of other great recipes, both sweet and savoury. Below are a few that I’d love you to try: