It’s no secret that I love cake, I love making cake, eating cake and thinking about cake.
This is one of my favourite cakes to make. I love how the walnuts inhance the coffee taste.
To get a really light cake, you need to sift your dry ingredietns well. I sift at least six times, but I’m obsessed. This incorporates air and hot air rises in the oven, cake gets really light and airy, just how I like it.
Of course the sifting isn’t the only way to get air into your batter. I beat the eggs and sugar for ten minutes to get as much air into the batter too.
The last secret to a light and airy cake, I’m trying to avoid the word “moist”, is to only mix your batter as much as needed to incorporate your ingredients. You don’t want to over work the gluten, this will make your cake tough.
Let’s get to the recipe. Happy baking!
Cake:
6 eggs
500ml castor sugar
250ml freshly brewed coffee
250ml full cream milk
250g butter
880ml flour
30ml baking powder
50g finely chopped walnuts
Buttercream:
200g butter
500g icing sugar
60ml coffee (chilled)
Cake:
Preheat oven to 180ºC
Grease and line three 20cm round cake tins
Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
Heat milk and coffee with butter until butter is melted. Do not boil. Stir well and set aside.
Sift flour and baking powder well, at least three times. Add walnuts.
Turn mixer down to its lowest setting. Add a third of the dry ingredients and then a third of the coffee mixture. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Divide batter between tins and bake for 25 to 30 mins.
Remove from oven and turn out onto cooling racks immediately.
Allow to cool completely.
Buttercream:
Beat butter until soft. Add icing sugar and beat well.
Add coffee and mix well. Cover buttercream until it is needed.
To assemble:
Place one layer of cake on a serving plate. Spread a quarter of the buttercream over the cake and place the next layer of cake on top of the buttercream. Repeat with the remaining cake.
Place the remaining buttercream into a piping bag with a star nozzle. Pipe eight swirls on the top of the cake. Top each swirl with a walnut. Sprinkle some chopped walnuts over the top of the cake if you wish.
Cake:
- 6 eggs
- 500ml castor sugar
- 250ml freshly brewed coffee
- 250ml full cream milk
- 250g butter
- 880ml flour
- 30ml baking powder
- 50g finely chopped walnuts
Buttercream:
- 200g butter
- 500g icing sugar
- 60ml coffee (chilled)
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 180ºC
- Grease and line three 20cm round cake tins
- Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Heat milk and coffee with butter until butter is melted. Do not boil. Stir well and set aside.
- Sift flour and baking powder well, at least three times. Add walnuts.
- Turn mixer down to its lowest setting. Add a third of the dry ingredients and then a third of the coffee mixture. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Divide batter between tins and bake for 25 to 30 mins.
- Remove from oven and turn out onto cooling racks immediately.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Buttercream:
- Beat butter until soft. Add icing sugar and beat well.
- Add coffee and mix well. Cover buttercream until it is needed.
To assemble:
- Place one layer of cake on a serving plate. Spread a quarter of the buttercream over the cake and place the next layer of cake on top of the buttercream. Repeat with the remaining cake.
- Place the remaining buttercream into a piping bag with a star nozzle. Pipe eight swirls on the top of the cake. Top each swirl with a walnut. Sprinkle some chopped walnuts over the top of the cake if you wish.
