Cinnamon Pancake Cake with Coconut Cashew Cream Frosting

Soooo this is my 200th blog post! I've rambled on about cake and babies - well just one baby - for 200 posts. I thought I'd make a cake in celebration but, seeing as it's Pancake Day next week, it really needed to be a pancake cake.
And so I'm at it with cashews and coconuts again...I promise I'll take a break from them next week.

This cake is awesome. It's really good. What I love about it is that it's not too sweet. It's subtle, so you don't feed too sickly whilst eating it. The raspberry sauce goes really well with the creaminess of the cashew frosting. If you need a cake for someone who is not a big fan of super sweet frosting then I would definitely recommend you use this instead. I actually preferred making it to regular icing sugar based frosting because my kitchen wasn't covering in white powder. That's why I hardly make cupcakes anymore, because they're just such a pain to clean up after.

I was offered the chance to try out one of Tefal's frying pans ahead of Pancake Day and, seeing as I usually make American style pancakes, I opted to try the Jamie Oliver one. You can check out their range of pans and take a pancake selfie(!) on their site. In all honesty, I've always scrimped on frying pans and paid the price. I'm now a convert to good quality frying pans. This pan was completely non-stick, which made it really quick and easy to get through the 8 pancakes for this cake. All I used for fat was a quick spritz of cooking spray but you probably don't even need that. I loved it.

You really do need to soak the cashews for at least 4 hours before making this frosting or it will be more like cashew butter than cashew cream. If coconut isn't your thing then you can skip it but it adds a lovely texture and makes the cake pretty to look at.
There will probably be a point halfway through assembling this cake where you'll think 'this isn't going to work'. I thought that but persevere! The frosting will behave eventually and it will all be worth it.
If you don't fancy assembling a whole cake, this would be just as good deconstructed i.e. just spread the cream over pancakes and drizzle in sauce.

Cinnamon Pancake Cake with Coconut Cashew Cream Frosting (Frosting adapted from Edible Perspective)
For the pancakes (makes 8-10): 130g Plain Flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt 2 tablespoons caster sugar 350ml buttermilk 50g vegetable oil 1 egg, beaten
for the frosting: 100g cashews, soaked in water for 4-6 hours
1 teaspoon cinnamon 60ml almond milk 60ml maple syrup 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 25g dessicated coconut
almond butter
for the topping: 15g dessicated coconut raspberry sauce (I had some left over from this recipe)

1. Start by making the pancakes. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Then whisk the wet ingredients in a jug and add to the dry. Mix until combined.
2. Heat up the frying pan and spoon out 3 dessertspoonfuls for each pancakes - this ensures they stay roughly the same size for the cake.
3. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, keep an eye on them though.
4. Let each pancake cool on a wire rack whilst you finish making the rest.
5. For the frosting, chuck everything EXCEPT for the coconut (don't forget this goes in after) in the food processor and blend until as smooth as possible.
6. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the first 25g dessicated coconut.
7. Toast the rest of the coconut in the oven at 180 C/350 F for ten minutes. Leave to cool on the side whilst you assemble the cake.
8. Start piling up the pancakes with a little spread of almond butter in between each layer.
9. When you are ready, start spreading the frosting around the pancakes and on top.
10. Finish by sprinkling the toasted coconut on top and drizzling with raspberry sauce.