Coffee & Walnuts ...oh my !

My first taste of the renowned British favorite Coffee and Walnut Cake took place today. My life will never be the same again. Smooth, rich, creamy and wonderfully flavored with espresso. There is NOTHING better especially if you are in any way like me: a true coffee addict. I am hooked !

I researched a few different recipes that seem popular but in the end tested out Nigella Lawson's Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake recipe. Ok granted, the one I made is not a double layer cake. For this recipe I simply halved the ingredients to create an amazing single layer cake. The fact is there are only two people in my family who like the flavor of coffee and I am one of them. A single layer cake for this household would be overkill but a single cake on the other hand is just right.

I was somewhat hesitant to start off because it requires grinding of walnuts in a food processor. That means messing around with sharp blades. I tend to be a tad accident prone and having already had a slice and dice related accident earlier this week I was somewhat "gun-shy". But I stayed alert, ground the nuts and came out of it with all digits intact.

When I read through Nigella's recipe I was also very surprised to see that the cake only takes 25 minutes to bake. It contains 1/2 cup of butter and 2 eggs making it quite a dense batter. I thought it would take far longer to bake and was hoping Nigella's online recipe wasn't riddled with typos. My fear was baseless. The recipe is error-free. The cake baked up perfectly in 25 minutes and is one of the moistest cakes I have ever eaten. Topped off with a buttery swirl of coffee frosting and one has nirvana on a plate.




So let's get started !

RECIPE:
*adapted source recipe: Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake, Nigella Lawson

WHAT YOU NEED

SPONGE

25 grams chopped walnuts
112 grams fine granulated sugar
112 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
100 grams all purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk

FROSTING

350 grams icing sugar, sifted
175 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water
walnut halves for decoration

MAKE IT

PREHEAT OVEN to 350F
GREASE an 8" round cake pan with baking spray and line bottom with parchment paper

IN FOOD PROCESSOR, grind together walnuts and sugar until combined into a fine nutty powder
IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER (fitted with paddle attachment) or large bowl if using hand-held mixer, beat butter 1 minutes MED speed until creamy
ADD SUGAR/WALNUT mix and beat 1 minutes MED speed
ADD all other ingredients blending well until thoroughly combined and smooth appearance
POUR into prepared pan and level out with icing spatula
BAKE 25 minutes
LET COOL in pan 10 minutes then remove and let cool completely on cooling rack

FROSTING

IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER (fitted with paddle attachment) or large bowl if using hand-held mixer, beat butter 1 minute MED speed until creamy
ADD in icing sugar and blend 2 minutes until butter and sugar come together into a heavy even consistency
ADD dissolved espresso powder and beat 2-3 minutes scraping down sides when needed

SPREAD frosting on top of cooled cake
DECORATE with walnut halves

ENJOY !

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