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. 

Wicked Good Stuffed Lobster Tail

Stuffed Lobster Tail

Grins.  One of the things we don't get in Arizona is fresh, off-the-dock Maine or Cape Cod seafood, and while by no stretch of the imagination am I fan of fish, I do miss lobster, clams, and scallops.  I mean I'm enjoying all the burritos and chilis and refried beans.  I really am.  But there's that part of me that pines for those foods of the New England shores.

Well, as good fortune would have it, my birthday came around and my Sweetie-Pie ordered fresh frozen lobster tails and had it delivered.  Talk about surprised!  Forget expensive jewelry and perfume.  Bring me lobster tails!

Oooh, and this was succulent and sweet, and I could taste the ocean, and while it was baking in the oven, it was like being in Boston again.  But no snow!

When these came, the top part of the shell was already split, almost down to the tail but not through the tail and not through the underside.  Not looking for two halves here.  My hands aren't as strong as they once were and it took a bit of finagling to pull the meat through the split shell to lay it on top, but as you can see I persevered but the struggle was worth it.

I found a recipe on line and it was spot on--restaurant quality in my book and a definite keeper.   The lobster is the star of the show in this recipe, so no crab meat, no shrimp, no scallions, no garlic. 

BAKED STUFFED LOBSTER

2 fresh lobster tails, prepared for baking
a nice squeeze of lemon juice
a pat of butter

1/2 cup buttery crackers (such as Ritz)

1/4 cup crushed saltines
1 tablespoon dry sherry
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon pepper


Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

It's not necessary, but certainly nice to add a little melted butter and lemon juice on top of the lobster before adding the stuffing.  Place the lobsters in a baking dish.

For the stuffing, mix the two crackers together.  Add the sherry and melted butter and pepper and mix well.  If the stuffing seems a little dry you can add a little extra butter.  Using your impeccably clean hands form the stuffing into loose, oval-shaped balls and mound on top of the lobster tails. 

Bake in oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the shells are bright red and the meat is opaque. (Larger lobsters will take longer to cook).  Serve immediately.  If you're a real butter fiend, add a bit of melted butter to the stuffing partway through baking.

COOK'S NOTE:  This stuffing would be superb in a lobster pie.  Precook your lobster meat and combine with the stuffing.  Add a little extra butter and lemon to the top.  Bake for about ten minutes.  Heaven.