Coffee and Walnut Cake – another classic in British Baking! I don’t know what it is about this flavour combination, but it just works… Even for those of us (like me!) who don’t drink coffee! The coffee buttercream was definitely a hit when I made this for my Grandma, and if you want to combine the flavour of coffee and walnut flavours with marzipan, make sure to check out this Coffee and Walnut Battenberg Cake.
This Coffee and Walnut Cake takes no time to make at all! An easy all-in-one sponge, a quick bake and a simple coffee buttercream to finish. Ready in a jiffy if you want to whisk out something in the afternoon to impress.
How to make the Coffee and Walnut Cake
This cake is extremely easy to make. The recipe below is inspired by my Frosted Walnut Cake recipe, just with the addition of coffee this time and an easier method. The sponge mix follows a simple all-in-one method, which simply involves adding all of the ingredients to a bowl and mixing. If you want to learn more about the various cake making methods, please check out my Baking Basics post here.
Make sure the coffee is cool though when you add it, to prevent the cake mixture from splitting. Once the cake batter is smooth, chopped walnuts are stirred in before pouring the mix into tins and baking.
The buttercream for filling and decorating the cake also contains a little coffee, but I think the coffee is balanced well in this recipe and the coffee flavour is by no means over-powering. It’s there, but it is subtle. So feel free to up or reduce the quantities in my recipe below if you would like to adjust it to your taste. I also have a Baking Basics post explaining the ins and outs of making the perfect buttercream which you can find here.
More British Baking Classics
Everyone likes a good cake classic! And Coffee and Walnut is definitely a staple when it comes to British Baking. I have loads of recipes for other British Baking Classics on my blog, too, so make sure to check out some of my favourites below:
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Spiced Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- Victoria Sponge Cake
- Lemon Yoghurt Cake
- Classic Trifle | Easy, No-bake Dessert
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Mini Pork Pies
- Blackberry and Cinnamon Crumble Cake
- Madeira Cake
- Caramelised Onion and Thyme Sausage Rolls
- Coffee and Walnut Battenberg Cake
- Swiss Roll Cake with Strawberries and Cream
- Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Coronation Chicken
- Fruit Scones with Extra Fruit and Orange Zest
- Dark Chocolate Digestives
- Millionaire’s Shortbread
- Strawberries and Cream Sponge Cake
- Hot Cross Buns (with extra fruit and spice)
- Viennese Whirls
Coffee and Walnut Cake | British Baking Classics
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
- 2 heaped tsp coffee granules
- 3 tbsp boiling water
- 225g butter, softened
- 225g caster sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 225g self-raising flour
- 4 large eggs
- 100g walnuts, finely chopped
TO FINISH:
- 125g butter, softened
- 1 heaped tsp coffee granules
- 1 tbsp boiling water
- 250g icing sugar
- 70g walnut halves, to decorate
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- 1x 20cm deep, round, spring-clip cake tin
- Electric hand whisk
- Small, angled palette knife
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease two round 20cm sandwich tins and line the base with baking paper.
- Dissolve the coffee powder in the boiling water and set aside to cool.
- Weigh all of the cake ingredients into a large mixing bowl, apart from the walnuts, and pour in the cooled coffee. Use an electric hand whisk (or a wooden spoon) to beat everything together for 2-3 minutes until smooth and well-combined. Then add in the chopped walnuts and fold them into the cake mix so that they are evenly distributed throughout.
- Divide the cake evenly (around 500g each) between the two tins and level the surfaces. Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden-brown, the cakes are shrinking away from the edges of the tin, and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Place the cakes onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Once cool, remove the cakes from their tins and peel of the baking paper.
- To make the coffee buttercream, once again dissolve the coffee powder in the water and set aside to cool. Beat the butter for 3-5 minutes using an electric hand whisk until pale and fluffy. Then whisk in the cooled coffee. To find out more about how to make the perfect buttercream, check out my Baking Basics post here.
- Finally, add about half of the icing sugar, beat, then add in the rest. This is just to ensure the icing sugar doesn’t go everywhere (see more tips on making buttercream here). Whisk for 2 minutes until the buttercream is smooth.
- Place one of the cooled cakes onto a cake stand or serving plate and spread half of the coffee buttercream over the top. Place the second cake on top, with the bottom facing upwards to create a flat top. Then spread the remaining buttercream on top and use a small palette knife to create decorative swirls.
- Finally, decorate the cake with some additional walnut halves or chopped walnuts and enjoy!
