How to Make Coffee and Walnut Cake

Tea and Coffee aren’t only for drinking. They make for excellent ingredients to a whole host of delicious recipes. We have recently shown you How to Make Matcha Cheesecake and How to Make an Earl Grey Tea Loaf. The time has come to show you how to make a Coffee and Walnut cake. You’re probably hungry already just thinking about it. We don’t blame you. It’s heavenly!

Perhaps best of all is that The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company stock the most wholesome and indulgent Fresh Coffee around. The other Coffee and Walnut cake ingredients you’ll need to find elsewhere. They’ll be easy enough to find, though, as indeed would the beans. However, you want only the finest-quality ones, which we can guarantee when you buy from us.

What is Coffee Walnut Cake?

Unlike when Harry met Sally, it is difficult to determine when Coffee and Walnuts found their way into a cake. It didn’t happen in 1989; we can tell you that much. Standalone Coffee cake likely evolved from other sweet dishes in 17th-century Vienna.

These were referred to as “Gugelhupf” or “Kaffekuchen.” The recipe’s popularity eventually spread through Europe to become the dessert giant we know today.

Despite almost certainly coming from the European mainland, Coffee and Walnut cake now has a close association with British cuisine. The chances are you’ve seen it served while enjoying an Afternoon Tea near you, perhaps alongside finger sandwiches and scones. It is a sponge cake literally made with Coffee and Walnut pieces, flavoured with butter icing and adorned with walnut halves. Delightful!

How to Make Coffee and Walnut Cake Step by Step

You’re probably dying to try your hand at a Coffee and walnut cake recipe. The sponge will require 225g/8oz softened, unsalted butter; 225g/8oz caster sugar; four eggs; 50ml/1¾fl-oz Espresso Coffee,  225g/8oz self-raising flour and 75g/2½-oz walnuts.

The buttercream topping will need 125g/4½oz unsalted butter, 200g/70z icing sugar, 50ml/2fl-oz Espresso Coffee and twelve walnut halves to decorate.  

1, Brew Espresso Coffee.

Choose a type and grind of Espresso Coffee from our selection and brew as a small concentrate.

2, Turn on the Oven.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 ready for your Coffee and Walnut sponge.

3, Mix Butter and Sugar.

Get a bowl and beat butter and sugar together until pale and light.

4, Combine with Eggs.

Add your eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar blend. Be sure to beat it well.

5, Time to Include Coffee.

Your small concentrate of Espresso Coffee can be poured into the mixture and stirred thoroughly.

6, The Flour and Walnuts Come Next.

Put in the flour and walnuts and continue to stir in.

7, Transfer the Mixture to Cake Tins.

Get two lined and greased 20cm/8inch cake tins and spoon in the cake mixture.

8, Ready, Steady, Bake.

Bake it for 25-30 minutes so that it comes out golden-brown.

9, Remove and Cool Your Coffee Walnut Recipe.

Take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.

10, Move on to the Buttercream Topping.

Beat butter and icing sugar together in a small bowl until light and pale.

11, More Espresso Coffee is Needed.

Add more Coffee to your buttercream topping and mix well.

12, Spread the Buttercream on the Cake.

Layer the buttercream over the top of each sponge.

13, Place One Sponge on the Other.

Sandwich the sponges with the buttercream used to stick them together.

14, All That’s Left is to Decorate.

Top the cake off with walnut halves, slice it up and serve to friends and family. 

What to Drink with Coffee and Walnut Sponge

You now know how to make Coffee and Walnut Cake. But what should adorn your cup while you indulge? The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company stock over 1,000 types of Tea and 70 Types of Coffee.

These we pack fresh to order here at our Pluckley-based factory, nestled in the stunning vistas of the Kentish countryside. Be sure to browse our vast range and choose the brew for you. 

Author: Richard Smith

Partner at The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company

Richard Smith is a Tea expert, entrepreneur, and owner of The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company. Part of a family of renowned Tea planters dating back four generations, he was born in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, where he spent his childhood between Tea Estates in Assam and Darjeeling.

In the late 1970s, having accumulated years of knowledge in the industry, Mr Smith and his mother, Janet Smith, moved to Kent, South East England, to establish a Tea business in the village of Pluckley. Their early days of packing Tea Bags by hand from chests of 10,000 prompted the creation of the company’s flagship infusion known as Pluckley Tea. It remains our most popular product today.

Mr Smith, who studied economics at London Polytechnic, has since specialised in over 1,000 types of Loose Leaf Tea - in addition to around 70 varieties of Roast Coffee - from around the world. These are now available at The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company, where everything is still packed by hand and fresh to order, not only to honour tradition but to ensure the utmost quality and consistency.