Coffee Walnut Layer Cake

Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake

I was going to try and teach myself how to bake using metrics--I bought myself the scale and metric measuring spoons and visited British baking sites and was all gung-ho and then I backed out.  It's not my fault entirely, I swear.  I discovered that my food weighed differently when I put it in different places on the scale.  I mean just millimeters away from the center of the scale caused it to show a different weight.  This is one of those times when I needed somebody who knew exactly what they were doing to be by my side to weigh in on the subject.  So the kitchen scale sits in my cabinet.  

In my forays into British food, I began seeing multiple recipes for coffee and walnut cake.  I'm a pushover for just about mocha and walnuts anything and I fell in love with the recipes when I saw them.  Everyone raved about it and so many had said it was the choice of cake for birthdays.  This cake evoked a lot of memories for a lot of people, and I wanted this cake. I was convinced I was going to perish if I didn't have it.  But alas, there were no imperial measurements anywhere that I could find for it, and I am serious when I tell you I looked for it.

After resigning myself to a life without this, I found that Nigella Lawson had converted the recipe so I could make it too, and it was on the New York Times.  Hooray!

And yes, this cake lived up to my every expectation.  Walnuts and coffee are a love match. The cake is sweet and rather dense (due ground walnuts in the flour mix), with a pleasant coffee flavor.  I used espresso powder, but as I said I like the flavor of coffee.  You can double the frosting recipe to frost the entire cake, but the cake does not need it.  I found just frosting the middle and the top to be quite adequate without being overpoweringly sweet and decadent.

COFFEE AND WALNUT LAYER CAKE
Original recipe here on the New York Times 

For the cake:
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (reduce to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter)
4 large eggs

2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

For the frosting:
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/8 salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

walnut halves for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Butter two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper to fit the bottom. 

In the bowl of a food processor add the 1/2 cup walnut pieces and the sugar.  Process until ingredients are a fine powder.

(Original directions said to add remaining ingredients to the food processor, but I moved everything to a separate bowl and used a hand mixer at this point.)

Add the butter, flour, baking powder, salt and eggs.  

Add 2 tablespoons of milk to the coffee mixture.  Mixture will be kind of heavy but should be soft enough to drop from a spoon.  If not, add droplets of milk, stirring.

Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans and bake about 25 minutes, or until springy to touch and cake tester tests clean.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before moving to a rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting:  In a bowl, mix the sugar, salt (if using) and butter until smooth.  Add the coffee mixture and beat until well combined and of desired spreading consistency.

To frost the cake, place one of the layers upside down on a serving plate or stand.  Spread about half the frosting.  Take the second layer and that that one right side up on the first layer.  Frost with remaining frosting and decorate with walnut halves.

 












 




COOK'S NOTES:  I think this is a cake I would have to make again to get it perfectly right, and I will most certainly make it again.  In the spirit of honesty, one of my layers was slightly sunk.  Of course I filled it with gobs of wonderful frosting and no harm done and the taste was absolutely unaffected.  I have no idea what that happened.  Maybe I removed it from the pans too soon or not soon enough?  Maybe because I didn't use a food processor for the entire recipe?  That seemed ridiculous to me.  Cakes are finicky creations.  Regardless, this cake was good!  It lasted very well for a couple of days, well wrapped.  Flavors seemed to deepen a bit, becoming even more delicious.  As I said I used an espresso powder, but I like the flavor of coffee.