Brown Sugar-Toffee Cake

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My husband is an avid coffee drinker and loves toffee. This recipe (from Vegetarian Times) screamed, "Make this for the man of your life!", and so I did. It was a total success! Plan ahead, though. The secret with this lighter version of a brown sugar pound cake is having all the ingredients at room temperature and beating the batter 2 to 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup cold strong coffee
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt, at room temperature
3 milk chocolate–toffee bars, such as Heath

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar with electric mixer until smooth in separate bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time, and then beat in coffee and vanilla extract. Add 1/4 cup yogurt, and beat until smooth. Add half of flour mixture, and beat until smooth. Beat in remaining 1/4 cup yogurt, then remaining flour mixture. Beat 2 to 3 minutes, or until batter is smooth and creamy.

Spread batter in prepared cake pan, and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pulse milk chocolate-toffee bars in food processor 8 times, or until crushed into bits. (It’s OK if some bits are larger than others.) Unmold cake from pan, and set on wire rack. Sprinkle chocolate-toffee bits on top of cake while hot. Cool completely before serving.