A deliciously moist, old-fashioned coffee and walnut cake is one of our very favourite treats and we like to make it with Camp chicory and coffee essence. If you can’t track this down in your local stores, use very strong black coffee instead. Make sure the walnuts you use are nice and fresh.
SERVES 12
65g walnut halves
225g softened butter, cubed, plus extra
for greasing
225g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp Camp chicory and coffee essence
Icing
150g softened butter, cubed
300g icing sugar, sifted
4 tsp Camp chicory and coffee essence
12 walnut halves
Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Butter two 20cm loose-based
sandwich tins and line the bases with discs of baking
parchment. Put the walnut halves in a food processor and blitz
them into fairly fine crumbs, but don’t worry if there are a few
larger pieces remaining. Tip the walnuts into a bowl.
Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and coffee
essence in a food processor and blend on the pulse setting
until well combined and creamy. You may need to remove
the lid once or twice and push the mixture down with a
rubber spatula. Take care not to process for too long or you
will end up with a heavy sponge. Add the blitzed walnuts to
the batter and mix until just combined. If you don’t have a
food processor, finely chop the nuts, tip all the ingredients
into a large mixing bowl, then beat like hell!
Spoon the mixture evenly into the greased and lined tins and
smooth the surface. Bake on the same shelf in the centre of
the oven for about 25 minutes or until the sponge is well risen
and just beginning to shrink back from the sides of the tin.
Remove the tins from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes
before running a knife around the edge of the cakes and turning
them out onto a wire rack. Peel off the baking parchment and
leave to cool completely.
To make the icing, put the butter in a food processor, or mixing
bowl, then add the icing sugar and coffee essence. Blend until
the icing is smooth and creamy. Add a little more coffee essence
to taste if you like.
Place one of the sponges on a plate or cake stand and spread
with half the coffee icing. Add the second sponge and spread
the remaining icing over the top. Use the back of a spoon or a
rubber spatula to create soft swirls and peaks. Decorate with
the walnut halves. Leave to stand for at least an hour before
serving if possible to allow the icing to become a little firmer.
Photography by Cristian Barnett
The Harry Bikers wear limited edition HomeSense aprons designed by celebrated British photographer Rankin to support Red Nose Day 2017 and help people living incredibly tough lives across Africa and here in the UK. The apron is part of a Red Nose Day 2017 range of products available in HomeSense stores nationwide from 13th February.