It’s been a little while since I made an afternoon loaf cake – and this date, walnut and coffee loaf with espresso buttercream has been a welcome return.
The recipe starts similarly to sticky toffee pudding; soaking the chopped dates in hot liquid with a spoonful of bicarb. In this case, strong black coffee rather than water.
After this initial stage, the recipe reverts to the familiar cake-making method. You cream the butter with sugars, sift together the dry ingredients and finally fold in the fruit and nuts.
The original recipe that I borrowed said that it would make one loaf – the quantity of mixture produced actually allowed me to make one large (using a 1kg/2lb loaf tin) and one smaller loaf. I’ll be giving the little one to Granny Glittens.
Usually, my loaf cakes go well with a cup of tea. However this one, obviously, suits a mug of coffee better!
Super-moist and sweet – a delicious mid-afternon treat!
Save this date, walnut and coffee loaf with espresso buttercream recipe to Pinterest
- 300g/10½oz chopped dates
- 360ml/12½ fl oz hot, strong, black coffee or espresso
- 1½tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 210g/7½oz plain flour
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛tsp grated nutmeg
- ¼tsp fine salt
- 60g/2oz butter
- 150g/5¼oz soft brown sugar
- 100g/3½oz granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2tsp vanilla paste
- 100g/3½oz walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 1tsp very fine ground or ½tsp instant espresso powder
- 225g/8oz icing sugar
- 45g/1½oz melted butter
- 1tsp vanilla paste
- 50g/1¾oz walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- Preheat oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- In a large bowl, combine the dates, hot coffee or espresso, and bicarbonate of soda. Set aside
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt
- Using a mixer cream the butter and sugars
- Beat in the egg and vanilla
- Strain the date mixture and set the dates aside
- Add the date-soaking liquid, alternating with the flour mixture (about 3 rounds) to the ingredients in the bowl; ending with the liquid
- Fold in the dates and toasted walnuts
- Grease loaf tin(s) with a little butter or baking spray. Insert a tin liner or cut parchment paper to fit the bottom and sides
- Pour the batter into the greased and lined loaf tin(s)
- Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes away clean
- Cool for 20 minutes before removing from the tin; remove the parchment and put on a wire rack to cool completely
- Combine the hot water with the espresso powder and stir until blended
- In a small bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, melted butter, vanilla and espresso
- Spoon & spread the buttercream evenly over the top and scatter the chopped walnuts
- Slice & serve
Cakes & Bakes: Coffee and walnut swiss roll
Have you watched the first episode of Britain’s Best Home Cook on the Beeb yet? One of the contestants, Katie, made this gorgeous coffee and walnut swiss roll as her second-round, improvised dish.
I shared a swiss roll as a Cakes & Bakes recipe last year. However, coffee and walnut is such a favourite cake combo, I just had to make this version!
The trick to getting a perfect, tight spiral… and an un-cracked sponge, is to score the inner edge and give it a pre-roll in parchment paper while it’s still very warm.
I did this, but my sponge was a little thin and lacked the required flexibility – so there was still some cracking. I need to get a proper swiss roll cake tin and then that problem should be solved for next time.
As expected, the flavours all worked really well together and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it… cracks and all!
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 160g/5½oz walnut halves
- 140g/5oz caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 4 eggs
- 140g/5oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 30g/1oz unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
- 2tsp instant coffee granules
- 2tsp boiling water
- 170ml/6fl oz double cream
- 25g/1oz icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
- Preheat the oven to 200˚C/180˚C fan/Gas mark 6
- Grease a 34 × 22cm/13 × 8½" Swiss roll tin and line it with baking parchment
- Roast the walnuts in the oven for 5 minutes, until a shade darker and aromatic. Allow to cool, then finely chop half of the walnuts
- Using an electric whisk or stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk the sugar and eggs together until pale, thick and creamy and at least doubled in volume (this will take 8-10 minutes)
- Sift a few tablespoons of flour at a time into the bowl, and very gently fold into the mixture. When all the flour has been incorporated, gently fold in most of the chopped walnuts and the butter. Be patient and do not knock out too much air
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and smooth out using the back of a spoon
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown and slightly springy to the touch. Don't leave to cool
- While the sponge is still warm, place a large sheet of baking parchment on your work surface and dust liberally with caster sugar. Supporting it with your hand, carefully invert the sponge onto the parchment. Gently peel off the top layer of parchment. Trim the very outer edge of the sponge with a sharp knife. Score a line 2cm/¾" in from the short end of the sponge closest to you, but don't cut all the way through. Using the parchment, tightly roll up the sponge and leave to cool, seam side down
- Mix the coffee and boiling water to form a paste
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, icing sugar and coffee paste until soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until needed
- Gently unroll the cooled sponge. Spread the cream over the surface, leaving a 1-2cm/½–¾" border all round
- Scatter over the remaining chopped walnuts. Roll up the sponge again and place on a serving plate, seam side down
- Arrange the whole walnuts on top and dust with icing sugar before serving
Cakes & Bakes: New York maple-walnut cheesecake
Baked cheesecake is both Justin’s and my favourite kind of cake. I often make it for special occasions such as when we’re having people over to visit. The last time friends came to stay, I made a New York maple-walnut cheesecake. It was such a hit – with us and them – that I’ve been looking forward to making it again and sharing the recipe on here.
I found the recipe on the New York Times website. It’s pretty similar to the one that I make using a Gordon Ramsay recipe, with one… or should I say two great additions. Including maple syrup in cheesecake is delicious; Tossing and coating walnuts in hot maple syrup and then sprinkling them over the top is candied heaven on earth!
I made a few little adjustments to the NYT’s original New York maple-walnut cheesecake recipe. For a start, I cut down on the quantities; much as I love cheesecake, 12 portions is too much for just the two of us. I also swapped the Graham cracker base for the more usual British version of digestive biscuit crumbs. Lastly, I doubled the amount of maple syrup in the actual cheesecake mixture as I thought the flavour was a little too subtle.
Also, the original method included an initial hot bake at 260ºC/500ºF for 15 minutes. This, I think, is to give the top of the cake a nice golden brown colour. It would have completely burnt my first attempt if I hadn’t been keeping an eye on it. This time around, I lowered the temperature and duration of this stage… it turned out perfectly!
The walnuts can be substituted for other nuts, I’d think that pecans or Brazil nuts – or both – would be wonderful.
Click here to save the recipe for later!
- 200g/7oz digestive biscuits (about 14 biscuits)
- 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, melted
- 600g/21oz cream cheese
- 2tsp cornflour
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 120ml/4fl oz maple syrup
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 60ml/2fl oz double cream
- 60ml/2fl oz maple syrup
- 1tsp cornflour
- 115g/4oz walnut halves
- Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
- In a bowl, grind the digestive biscuits to fine crumbs (I use the end of a rolling pin)
- Add the melted butter to the bowl and toss with a fork until the butter has moistened the crumb mixture
- Grease the sides of a 23cm/9-inch, spring-form cake tin and scatter the crumbs evenly over the pan bottom, pressing it down using the bottom of a straight-sided glass or back of a spoon
- Bake for 10 minutes and allow it to cool
- Raise the oven temperature to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft and fluffy (about 2 minutes)
- Combine the flour and the sugar and add this mixture and half of the maple syrup to the cheese in thirds, mixing after each addition
- Add the eggs and the yolk to the mixture, one by one, beating after each addition
- Add the heavy cream and mix again
- Pour the batter on to the cooled base and bake for 5 minutes
- Lower the oven to 90ºC/200ºF/Gas mark ½ and bake for a further hour
- Switch off the oven, leave the door ajar and allow the cheesecake cool in the oven for ½ hour
- Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours but no more than 24
- In a small saucepan, heat the remaining maple syrup over a low heat until it bubbles. Allow to simmer gently for 1 minute until it has thickened slightly
- Whisk in the cornstarch and turn off the heat
- Add the walnuts and turn to coat
- Spread them out on a piece of parchment paper to cool and harden into praline
- Sprinkle over the cheesecake
Cakes & Bakes: Fig, almond and walnut loaf
Recently, we’ve been challenging ourselves to get by on a weekly food budget of £30.00 for two. We’ve been managing very well to date; buying carefully, preparing sauces in bulk (some which we freeze for future meals) – and using up tinned foods that have been half-forgotten in the cupboard.
One of those tins were these Baldji’s Kalamata fresh figs in syrup. I think I bought them over a year ago with the intention of making some sort of dessert. After looking for a little online inspiration, I found a River Cottage recipe for fig, almond and walnut loaf.
Their recipe included dried figs and water so I simply used the equivalent weight of the tinned figs and their syrup. I also needed to double the cook time from 20 to 40 minutes.
Once the mixture was ready to put into the tin and on to the oven, I must admit, it didn’t look promising. It had the colour and consistency of refried beans. A bit of a grey, purple, sludgy slop!
Luckily, looks were deceiving as it turned out very well – delicious in fact. A few people have tried it – some would prefer it a little sweeter; so sugar, Stevia or agave could be added. We found that a drizzle of honey on the top of a slice was the perfect addition. The flavour works really well with the figs and gives that extra sweetness too.
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest for later.
- 100g/3½oz dried figs
- 100ml/3½ fl oz water
- 60g/2oz walnuts
- 175g/6oz ground almonds
- 3 large eggs
- 80g/3oz melted coconut oil or unsalted butter
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp cider vinegar
- Pinch of salt
- Pre-heat the oven to 150°C/300ºF/Gas mark 2
- Line a 500g/1lb loaf tin with baking parchment
- Roughly chop the figs and add them with the water to a small saucepan over a medium heat. Simmer gently until most of the water is absorbed
- Blitz the figs in a food processor until they form a coarse paste
- Add the ground almonds and process again until damp crumbs form
- Add the walnuts and salt and process again briefly until they're coarsely chopped. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat eggs and bicarbonate of soda with an electric hand whisk until frothy
- Whilst still beating, slowly drizzle in the coconut oil/butter in a thin stream and continue beating until the eggs are pale, thick and doubled in volume
- Sprinkle vinegar over the eggs and beat briefly to distribute evenly. Work quickly as the vinegar will activate the bicarbonate of soda
- Tip the nut mixture onto the eggs and fold in thoroughly with a metal spoon until the nuts are evenly distributed
- Scrape into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean. Give the loaf more time to bake and perhaps turn the temperature down if it browns too fast
- Cool on a wire rack before eating
- You can store the loaf in an air-tight container in a cool place for up to 3 days - or slice & freeze for up to 2 weeks
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