Coffee & Walnut Cake with Coffee Buttercream & Walnut Butter Filling
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!
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