You won't be disappointed with our deliciously moist coffee and walnutsponge! Adorned with a sweet buttercream and chopped walnuts, it's the perfect teatime treat.
Preparation Notes: Plus cooling
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Yields:
12
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Cal/Serv:
694
Ingredients
250g
unsalted butter, softened
250g
caster sugar
4
medium eggs, lightly beaten
3Tbsp.
strong espresso (at room temperature)
250g
plain flour
1tsp.
baking powder
75g
walnut halves, roughly chopped
For the icing
200g
unsalted butter, very soft
300g
icing sugar, sifted
1tsp.
vanilla essence
3Tbsp.
strong espresso (at room temperature)
About 150g walnut halves
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Lightly grease a round 20.5cm (8in) loose-bottom or springform tin and line with baking parchment.
Step 2
Put butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat using a handheld electric whisk until pale and fluffy, about 3min. Gradually add eggs, beating well after each addition (if the mixture looks as if it's curdling, mix in a few tablespoons of the flour). Whisk in the espresso.
Step 3
Sift over flour and baking powder, fold in with a large metal spoon, then fold in walnut pieces. Spoon mixture into prepared tin, level and bake for 45min or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in tin for 5min, before removing from tin and cooling completely on a wire rack.
Step 4
Cut cooled cake in half horizontally. For the icing, put butter, icing sugar, vanilla and coffee into a large bowl. Beat with a handheld electric whisk until soft and smooth. Use some of the icing to sandwich cake together, then spread remainder over top and sides of cake. Transfer to a cake stand or plate.
Step 5
Set aside 8 walnut halves, and finely chop the rest. Press chopped walnuts around sides of cake and top with walnut halves. Serve in slices.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
