Name: Coffee walnut cake
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 60 g unsalted butter (melted and cooled); 125 g plain flour (plus extra for dusting); 120 g dark chocolate (chopped); 2 Tbsp instant coffee or espresso powder; 100 g walnuts (toasted slightly); 275 g light soft brown sugar; 3/4 tsp baking soda; 2 large eggs eggs (beaten); 115 g soured cream (full-fat greek yogurt will also work); 2 tsp vanilla; 50 ml olive oil; 1 Tbsp instant coffee or espresso powder; 100 g unsalted butter (room temperature); 150 g icing sugar (sieved); 75 ml double/ heavy cream; 3/4 Tbsp instant coffee/ espresso powder; 3 Tbsp light brown soft sugar; 50 g dark chocolate (chopped); 30 g walnuts (toasted and chopped)

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If you are a coffee fan, then this cake will be right up your street! Soft, moist and light sponge, flavoured with espresso coffee, sandwiched with silky-smooth mocha buttercream, topped with chocolate ganache and chopped walnuts.

straight ahead shot of a coffee cake on a cake stand topped with ganache and chopped walnuts

straight ahead super close up of a coffee cake with buttercream and chocolate ganache

How to make coffee cake from scratch

This coffee walnut cake requires just a little bit more of an effort, but it is totally worth it! The sponges are wonderfully moist, yet light and delicate, with that luscious, silky-smooth mocha buttercream in the middle. It will make a great centerpiece at your festive table, but is equally great as a Tuesday-after-dinner-treat.

side super close up of chocolate ganache and chopped walnuts on top of cake

To make sure it turns out just right, here are few tips to follow:

Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature- It’s really important that your eggs, butter, cream and sour cream are all at room temperature before starting. It will not only create a smooth batter, but will also allow your cake to bake evenly. Always take the ingredients out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Wait for the coffee to cool- When mixing instant coffee and boiling water for the sponges, make sure you give it time to cool. You will be adding eggs to this mixture, so you don’t want to end up with scrambled egg there!
Toast the walnuts gently- Toasting the walnuts elevates their flavour and brings out even more of that delicious nutty flavour and texture. Easiest way to do it is by simply heating up a frying pan over a medium heat and adding the nuts. Toast them until they are fragrant and start going a bit darker in their appearance. Make sure to keep an eye on them, as they can burn quickly!
Cake pans- Make sure you prepare the cake pans as per the instructions in the recipe. Grease them up lightly, then cover the bases of tins with baking paper. Finish off with dusting the cake tins with flour and tapping off any excess.

top view of bowls with different ingredients for coffee cake

top view of a person mixing brown sugar and chopped walnuts in a bowl

side close up of a jug filled with coffee and butter mixture

What can I use instead of sour cream?

The sour cream that this recipe calls for, is used here due to it’s acidity. When it is combined with baking soda, the two work together to break down the gluten and create that light, yet moist texture.

If you don’t have any sour cream on hand, you can substitute it with same amount of yogurt. Full-fat Greek yogurt will work best, but low-fat or even fat-free one can be used as well.

What is the best chocolate to use?

When it comes to chocolate in baking, I’m a strong advocate of using best you can afford. Dark chocolate is always my choice, because it just has much more flavour, without the added sweetness. It also helps to stabilise the bakes, because it has higher cocoa content, in comparison to sweeter, milk chocolate.

That being said, if you are not a fan of dark chocolate, this recipe will also work with milk chocolate. However, the appearance of the cake will be lighter, and the flavour will not be as intense.

overhead shot of a mixing bowl with coffee cake batter

What’s the best way to add buttercream?

This is totally optional, but and extra step which is worth taking. When spreading the buttercream on top of one of your sponge cakes, you can do it two ways;

Use a palette knife- Simply transfer the buttercream from your mixing bowl onto the cake, and use a palette knife to spread it in an equal layer.
Transfer the buttercream into a piping bag- my proffered method. It’s just easier to achieve that smooth, even top, when you simply pipe the buttercream in circles on top of the sponge cake.

side angle of coffee walnut cake on a cake stand with some buttercream on top

side angle shot of coffee cake with buttercream, ganache and chopped walnuts

How to store your cake

If you want to store this coffee cake, you can do so, at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you are keeping it for any longer than that, I would recommend to keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.

The ganache and buttercream will become harder and much more solid after storing it in the fridge, so I would advise to take it out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, before serving.

Keeping it in a cake caddy or container will prevent your cake from drying out, so it’s a good idea to invest in one.

side angle shot of cake on the stand with a slice taken out revealing the inside of the cake

straight ahead super close up of a slice of coffee cake

As always, thanks for tuning in! If you try this, or any other of my recipes, I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment or a rating below the recipe card, it always makes my day to hear from you guys!

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side angle of coffee and walnut cake topped with chocolate ganache

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5 from 9 votes