Coffee and walnut cake – a birthday cake

No one in my family much feels like big celebrations at the moment but it feels wrong to let birthdays go by without at least a cake.  The CCD (Caked Crusader’s Da) is partial to coffee cake and, when I gave him carte blanche to select his birthday cake flavour, it was – predictably – his first choice.

I don’t like coffee and what always surprises me is that when you say that to people (who like coffee), they will always respond with, “oh, but I bet you love the smell – that’s the best bit”.  Er, no.  It disgusts me just as much as the taste.  I don’t think people make that comment about any other food or drink; if you told someone you didn’t like garlic for example, they wouldn’t try and badger you into admitting you enjoyed its pungent aroma.

I stoked up the coffee element by using espresso coffee from Mr CC’s Nespresso machine.  I used 3 capsule’s worth of coffee spread across the cake and buttercream.  However, I know that most people probably don’t have this option so the recipe below sets out instant coffee quantities.  It does seem quite a ‘punchy’ cake and I think, from memory, uses more coffee than most similar recipes.

This cake is the classic combination of walnut and coffee.  Walnuts must have the best PR in the nut world as they have rather cornered the market in coffee based cakes and desserts.  I wonder how this monopoly came about but I suppose if it ain’t broke...

Happy birthday CCD!

Ingredients

For the sponges:

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons boiling water
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g light muscovado sugar
3 eggs
175g self raising flour
100g walnuts, finely chopped

For the buttercream:

3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons boiling water
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
350g icing sugar
Handful of walnuts roughly chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Line two loose bottomed 20cm sandwich tins with baking paper.

Place the coffee granules in a small bowl and stir in the boiling water until you have no lumps left.  Put to one side to cool.

In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Don’t skimp on this stage as this is where all the air gets into the mix.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding some of the flour if the mixture looks like it might curdle.

Stir in the flour and the chopped walnuts.

Stir in the cooled coffee.

Spoon into the two prepared tins, trying to make the distribution as even as possible.

Level the surfaces and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the sponges comes out clean.

Place the cakes, in their tins, on a wire cooling rack and de-tin when they are cool enough to handle safely.  The leave to cool completely on the wire rack.

Now make the buttercream: As before, make up the coffee with the boiling water in a separate bowl and put to one side to cool.

In a large bowl beat the butter on its own until it is light and whippy.

Add the icing sugar and stir, at first manually, to incorporate.  When the icing sugar is mixed in you can use the electric mixer – taking this cautious approach stops your kitchen being dusted in a cloud of icing sugar!

Beat until light and whippy.  A good test is to take a small amount of the mixture and press against the roof of your mouth – if it feels grainy it needs more beating.

When smooth, add the coffee and beat until the coffee is evenly mixed into the buttercream. (If you’ve made up Nespresso capsules and have any coffee left over, simply brush it over the sponges – waste not, want not!)

Place one of the sponges on the serving plate and spread a scant 1/3 of the buttercream over it.

Place the other sponge on top and spread a similar amount on top of that.

Use the remaining buttercream to cover the sides of the cake.

Scatter the chopped walnuts on top for decoration.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.