Coffee and walnut cake with coffee buttercream
This coffee and walnut cake frosted with a creaming coffee buttercream and filled with homemade walnut butter is moist, fluffy and gooey. Made with zero artificial flavourings and simple ingredients, this cake has lovely roasted flavours coming from the coffee and walnut without being bitter. This cake recipe is beginner baker friendly with special tips to make the best layered cake ever!
AUTHOR : KHUSHALI PATEL
PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour
BAKING TIME: 50 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 50 minutes
*For the best results, read the entire post & follow the instructions.
What does this coffee and walnut cake with coffee buttercream taste like?
- Coffee, Walnut AND Vanilla
- Roasted without being bitter
- Creamy and gooey with a lovely depth of flavour.
What to expect from this coffee and walnut cake recipe with coffee buttercream?
It is flavourful as it uses less sugar
This coffee walnut cake is prepared with less quantity of sugar which in turn enhances the natural flavours & aroma of the other ingredients.
Ease
Rather than using a variety of ingredients to get the right texture & flavours, this recipe is made with simple ingredients that are available to you in your pantry. This recipe also follows the creaming method to prepare the cake and the frosting. To make the walnut butter, all you have to do is add the ingredients into a food processor and blend it till it forms a smooth paste.
Quick to prepare
Although this recipe has three components, it uses basic cake-making techniques so you will not have to spend too much time in the kitchen preparing this layered cake. All you have to do is follow my instructions and you will have a cake that looks & tastes delicious in just over an hour.
Balance in texture
Have you ever eaten a cake that is beautifully layered only to find it extremely dense and heavy? This cake is well-balanced in texture making it fun to consume
- The cake is light & fluffy with a bit of a crunch from the chopped walnuts.
- The walnut butter provides a lovely gooeyness & extra moisture to the cake without having to use sugar syrup to preserve its moisture.
- While the coffee buttercream is smooth & creamy.
Why is this the best coffee and walnut cake?
This coffee walnut cake is unique because you can truly get the flavours of coffee AND walnuts with a balance of a variety of textures. As mentioned above, this recipe has three different components so let me tell you a little something about each of these components.
Coffee and walnut cake
The cake is a moist & light sponge that is flavoured with high-quality coffee powder with a rich & creamy flavour. However, the coffee flavour does not overpower its accompanying hero ingredient – walnuts. In order to improve the texture of the cake and make it even more enjoyable for you to consume, I added roughly chopped walnuts that are lightly roasted to add a bit of a crunch.
Walnut butter
Did you know that coffee and walnuts are two ingredients that go so well together when paired the right way?
Most coffee walnut cakes end up tasting like coffee cake as there is no real flavour coming from the walnuts.
This made me think of creative ways to incorporate the real flavours of walnut into the cake and walnut butter was the solution. Not only did this give a walnut flavour to the cake but also provided extra moistness and a gooey texture.
Coffee Buttercream
The coffee buttercream is a traditional American-style buttercream BUT without the large quantity of icing sugar. American-style buttercream uses a lot of icing sugar to provide structure to the buttercream.
But this recipe relies on technique to give you the right texture without sacrificing the flavour. The buttercream is fluffy, creamy & less sweet at the same time with the lovely flavour of coffee coming through.
Key ingredients in this coffee and walnut cake with coffee buttercream recipe
Let’s talk a little bit about what ingredients are used in this coffee walnut cake with coffee buttercream:
All-Purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder & Salt
This recipe uses all-purpose flour to give the cake a firm structure. The baking soda and baking powder help to leaven or aerate the cake giving it a fluffy & light texture while the salt helps cut the sweetness. Use any salt you prefer like table or kosher salt.
Cocoa powder
You might be wondering why on earth is cocoa powder being used in a coffee walnut cake.
Here is why.
Chocolate & coffee are two ingredients that are commonly used together as they support one another by enhancing each other’s flavours. Usually, you will find chocolate cake recipes with coffee powder or strong coffee being added in. In the same way, I thought why not use cocoa powder to enhance the flavours of the coffee walnut cake?
When I skipped the cocoa powder in the recipe, I did find that the cocoa powder gave a depth of flavour to the coffee flavour without overpowering it whatsoever. So instead of having a bitter coffee cake, the cake had a rich, smooth & creamy coffee flavour.
A mix of whole milk & coffee
Classic coffee walnut cakes are either flavoured with strong coffee made with water or coffee powder being added directly into the batter. I found that using strong coffee made the flavour of the coffee turn bitter without enhancing its flavours.
When I added the coffee powder directly the flavour didn’t quite blend it with the other ingredients. For this reason, I dissolved the coffee powder into whole milk which provided structure, evenly distributed the coffee flavour and added a lovely tenderness to the cake.
Whole eggs
This recipe uses approximately 5 eggs to provide structure and tenderness to the cake. Use fresh eggs for the best results.
Unsalted butter and yoghurt
This coffee cake is made with a mix of unsalted butter and yoghurt. Using a blend of both increased the moistness of the crumb while providing flavour to the cake.
Roasted walnuts without skins
For this recipe, lightly roast the walnuts rather than roasting them till they are brown. This is because when it’s roasted for too long, the heat brings out the bitter flavours of the walnut. As this recipe already has coffee, which has a natural roasted flavour, using roasted walnuts with skins just makes the cake bitter. Make sure to get rid of the skins after roasting as this helps reduce the bitterness of the walnuts.
Low-fat cream
The buttercream can be made with low-fat cream or heavy cream. However, make sure that the cream is anything above 25% in fat content and you are good to go.
Icing sugar
The buttercream uses icing sugar to sweeten and provide structure to the buttercream.
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04 baking tips to make the best coffee walnut cake
Avoid over-creaming the buttercream
While preparing the buttercream, avoid creaming the butter & sugar for a long time. Yes, this does incorporate lots of air, but when you overdo it, the butter begins to melt. Because of this you have to add more icing sugar to compensate.
This leads to a heavy, clawingly sweet buttercream without any flavour. Instead, cream the butter and sugar till just combined, pale & creamy. Doing so helps you avoid using extra icing sugar giving you a flavourful & fluffy buttercream.
Use the butter at the right temperature
The term soft butter can be very misleading or even confuse you, especially if you are new to baking.
Remember that we all live in different places around the globe where the room temperature can vary. So, it is crucial to understand that when using butter for baking, you can achieve the best results when the temperature is anywhere between 18°C-21°C.
I highly recommend that you experiment by taking a stick of butter in its packaging and leaving it on your kitchen counter. Monitor the butter every 15 to 20 minutes. When the butter is a little cool to touch but when you press it, you have to apply pressure to make a dent as the butter does not change its shape easily. This is when the butter is ready to be used.
The easiest way to monitor the texture of the butter is by using a thermometer. Note down the time it takes to reach the ideal temperature so that each time you bake, you can avoid a mistake caused by using butter that is way too soft.
Chill the cake layers and buttercream overnight
The fastest and easiest way to frost a cake like a pro is to chill the cake layers and the frosting overnight as the structure becomes firm. It also ensures that there is no damage to the cake, making it easier for you to layer.
Resting the cake and buttercream also helps the flavours to develop making the cake even more delicious. I recommend chilling the cake overnight for the best results or a minimum of 1 hour.
Use the best quality ingredients available
I highly recommend using high-quality & fresh coffee powder and walnuts while preparing this cake. This ensures better flavour. Also, remember to taste the walnuts before using them to avoid making a cake that just does not taste good.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use espresso powder instead of instant coffee powder?
While making this recipe, I used freeze-dried instant coffee powder as it has a richer flavour without being bitter. You can use the same or espresso powder to flavour the cake.
Step-by-step instructions
Preparation
For the lightly roasted walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 120C.
- Weigh 250 grams of walnuts and transfer them to a tray lined with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Once the oven is preheated, roast the walnuts for 10 minutes or lightly browned. Avoid over-roasting them as they will turn bitter.
- Let the walnuts cool for 2 minutes and then transfer them onto a clean kitchen dish towel.
- Using another kitchen dish towel, rub the walnuts to get rid of their skins. It’s much simpler to do so when the walnuts are warm.
- Transfer them to a strainer and get rid of the skins as much as you can. Set aside to cool completely.
- Roughly chop the walnuts once cooled.
- Divide the walnuts for the cake and the walnut butter according to the recipe given.
- There will be about 25 grams of extra walnuts that you can use to decorate the cake.
For the coffee buttercream
- Bring out the butter and let it come to the right temperature & texture. Chop the butter into even-sized cubes before using. See notes
- Weigh the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl, sift and then set aside.
- Mix 1/2 the quantity of low fat-cream or heavy cream in a bowl with the coffee powder after weighing. Stir till the coffee powder has dissolved.
- Keep the other 1/2 quantity of low fat-cream in another bowl (this may be needed only if the buttercream needs extra cream to reach a pipeable consistency.
- Weigh chopped unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl if you are using a hand-mixer with the pure vanilla extract.
For the coffee and walnut cake
- Line 02 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Learn how to line cake pans by downloading my guide on lining cake pans like a pro right here.
- In a bowl, weigh the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir with a spoon till the ingredients are evenly distributed and then sift. Set aside.
- Weigh the whole milk and coffee powder in a bowl and mix till the coffee has dissolved completely.
- In another bowl, weigh the whole eggs and pure vanilla extract in a bowl.
- Weigh the yoghurt in another bowl and set it aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl, weigh chopped unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer.
For the walnut butter
- Weigh the brown sugar, lightly roasted walnuts and pure vanilla extract into a bowl or directly into the food processor/mixer.
- Blend till smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Coffee & Walnut Cake with Coffee Buttercream & Walnut Butter Filling
Equipment
- 01 Baking Tray
- 01 Sifter
- 02 6 Inch cake pans
- Handheld or stand mixer with paddle attachment
- Weighing Scale
- Parchment Paper
- Knife & chopping board
- Bowls
- Whisk
- Spatulas
- Palette knife or offset spatula
- Piping bags with piping tips (if using)
- Pair of scissors
- Turn table or cake stand
- Serrated Knife optional
Ingredients
Coffee & Walnut Cake
- 245 grams All-purpose flour sifted
- 06 grams Cocoa powder*
- 09 grams Baking powder
- 03 grams Baking soda
- 03 grams Salt
- 225 grams Castor sugar
- 125 ml Whole milk
- 08 grams Coffee powder*
- 250 grams Whole eggs
- 175 grams Unsalted butter*, softened chopped
- 75 grams Yoghurt
- 100 grams Walnuts without skins lightly-roasted
- 05 ml Pure vanilla extract
Walnut Butter Filling
- 125 grams Walnuts without skins lightly-roasted
- 25 grams Brown sugar
- 03 ml Pure vanilla extract
Coffee Buttercream
- 256 grams Unsalted butter*, softened chopped
- 282 grams Icing sugar sifted
- 04 grams Cocoa powder
- 03 grams Salt
- 38 grams Low-fat cream or heavy cream minimum 25% fat content
- 06 grams Coffee powder*
- 05 ml Pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preparation
- For the lightly roasted walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 120°C or 248°F.
- Weigh 250 grams of walnuts and transfer them to a tray lined with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Once the oven is preheated, roast the walnuts for 10 minutes or lightly browned. Avoid over-roasting them as they will turn bitter.
- Let the walnuts cool for 2 minutes and then transfer them onto a clean kitchen dish towel.
- Using another kitchen dish towel, rub the walnuts to get rid of their skins. It's much simpler to do so when the walnuts are warm.
- Transfer them to a strainer and get rid of the skins as much as you can. Set aside to cool completely.
- Roughly chop the walnuts once cooled.
- Divide the walnuts for the cake and the walnut butter according to the recipe given.
- There will be about 25 grams of extra walnuts that you can use to decorate the cake.
- For the coffee buttercream
- Bring out the butter and let it come to the right temperature & texture. Chop the butter into even-sized cubes before using. See notes
- Weigh the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl, sift and then set aside.
- Weigh 1/2 the quantity of low fat-cream or heavy cream in a bowl with the coffee powder. Stir till the coffee powder has dissolved.
- Weigh the other 1/2 quantity of low fat-cream in another bowl (this may be needed only if the buttercream needs extra cream to reach a pipeable consistency.
- Weigh chopped unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl if you are using a hand-mixer with the pure vanilla extract.
- For the coffee walnut cake
- Line 02 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Learn how to line cake pans by downloading my guide on lining cake pans like a pro right here.
- Weigh the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir with a spoon till the ingredients are evenly distributed and then sift. Set aside.
- Weigh the whole milk and coffee powder in a bowl and mix till the coffee has dissolved completely.
- Weigh the whole eggs and pure vanilla extract in a bowl.
- Weigh the yoghurt in another bowl and set it aside.
- Weigh chopped unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl if you are using a hand-mixer.
- For the walnut butter
- Weigh the brown sugar, lightly roasted walnuts and pure vanilla extract into a bowl or directly into the food processor/mixer.
- Blend till smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Method
- For the coffee buttercream
- In a bowl attached to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand mixer, beat the chopped butter and vanilla on medium speed till pale and soft about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add 1/2 the icing sugar and cocoa powder mixture and salt.
- Mix on a low speed for 30 seconds till just combined.
- Add the other 1/2 of the icing sugar and cocoa powder mixture.
- Mix on a low speed for 30 seconds and then Increase the speed to medium and cream the butter and icing sugar will pale and fluffy for about a minute or two. Avoid overbeating. The mixer should be soft but should hold its shape.
- Add the cream and coffee mixture and beat on low for 30 seconds or till just combined.
- If the buttercream is stiff, add the rest of the cream little by little till it reaches pipeable consistency.
- Transfer to a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and then chill for 1 hour or preferably overnight.
- For the coffee walnut cake
- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F
- In a stand mixer bowl with a paddle attachment or hand mixer, cream the butter till light, pale and fluffy on medium speed.
- Add the castor sugar and cream till pale and fluffy.
- Once creamed, scrap the bowl from top to bottom and mix for an additional 10 seconds.
- Leave the stand mixer on medium speed and add one egg at a time or in 3 additions, creaming till fluffy before each addition. Avoid turning off the mixer or scraping the bowl.
- Add in the sifted dry ingredients and the milk and coffee mixture in 2 additions mixing till just combined before each addition. Avoid over-mixing. Fold any dry pockets with a spatula.
- Add the yoghurt and mix till just combined.
- Gently fold in the chopped walnuts till just mixed through.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the two pans. I prefer weighing the batter to get even cakes.
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes at 180°C or till the cakes spring back when touched.
- Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes in the cake pan and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Wrap the cooled cakes in plastic wrap and then chill for an hour or preferably overnight for better results.
Layering the cake
- Thaw the frosting till it reaches pipeable consistency.
- While the frosting is thawing, cut 2 squares of parchment paper about the size of the cake and set aside all the needed equipment for layering.
- Once the frosting has thawed, level the cakes by cutting off the top of the cakes using a serrated knife only if they have domed during baking using a serrated knife.
- Place a square of parchment paper on a turn table or platter by securing it with a little bit of frosting.
- In the same manner, add a bit of frosting on top of the parchment in the middle and then place the very first cake layer on top.
- Transfer the frosting into a piping bag. Avoid overfilling.
- Pipe and level the frosting on the cake then towards the edge make an even ring of frosting.
- Add the walnut butter to the well that you just created and level using a palette knife or offset spatula.
- Layer the second cake on top. If you feel the cake isn't sturdy or the frosting has become a bit soft, chill the cake for some time.
- Spread a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the cake. This is known as the crumb coat. Chill for about an hour in the fridge.
- Once the cake has chilled, you can apply a thick layer of frosting as evenly as possible.
- You can pipe frosting on top to decorate it with the remaining walnuts.
- Chill the cake if you desire, or slice and consume immediately.
Notes
- Unsalted butter - As mentioned in the tips section, experiment and observe how long the butter comes to the right temperature and texture. Depending on the time it takes, weigh out the recipe or bring out the butter mid-way through prep.
- Cocoa Powder - I highly recommend using coffee powder in the recipe because of the flavour it provides. However, if you decide to skip it, replace it with an equal quantity of flour in the cake recipe. The buttercream recipe remains the same.
- Coffee Powder - I recommend using espresso or freeze-dried instant coffee powder for best results.
- Walnut Butter - I highly recommend using homemade walnut butter as you can easily control the level of sweetness. However, you can use store-bought walnut butter as well. You can also use chopped walnuts in place of the walnut butter if you prefer but you will miss out on the gooey texture the walnut butter provides.
- Bake even cakes - There are a few instructions that you can follow to make even cakes which will not only make the cake easier to layer but will also help it look like a cake made by a pro. Here are the steps:
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- After the cake is prepared, weigh the cake batter in an empty bowl (don’t forget it zeroed out the weight of the bowl).
- Once you get the total weight of the cake batter, divide it by 2 (the number of cake layers needed).
- Weigh that amount in each cake pan and voila you have evenly baked cakes.
- Storage & Freezing Instructions -
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- Storage - The cake slices can be stored in the refrigerator for a week. Cakes are best stored in air-tight containers.
- Freezing Instructions - Frosted or unfrosted cake layers can be frozen for 2 months. They are best stored by wrapping each layer/slice in plastic wrap and then kept in an air-tight container. Thaw in the refrigerator over-night and bring to room temperature before decorating or serving.
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- Make Ahead Instructions
The cake layers & frosting can be prepared a day in advance. Chill the cake layers by wrapping them in plastic wrap after they are completely cooled. The frosting can be transferred into an air-tight container. Thaw the frosting till it reaches a pipeable consistency before using. The cake layers can be decorated when still cold as it helps prevent damage. - Cake with 03 layers
Use 03 6-inch cake pans to make a three-layered cake. Follow the exact same quantities & instructions to prepare the cake. But distribute the batter evenly between the three cake pans before baking. - Ingredient Substitution & Weighing Guide - Read it here
Hi! I'm Khushali Patel, a cookie-loving professional pastry chef, recipe developer and content creator whose aim is to guide you to find more happiness in your baking journey every step of the way.
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