This walnut espresso cake (Gâteau aux Noix et au Café) is a wonderful combination of espresso flavored cake and frosting topped with walnuts. The absolute star of this cake is the amazing espresso buttercream frosting.
The cake itself is delicious, but when you enjoy it with this buttercream, it's heaven.
You can make this cake as an eight inch layer cake or in a single layer as a ten inch cake, which I chose to do. It's just so much easier to slather a thick dollop of the frosting over a single layer and not worry too much about presentation or a crumb coating.
Plus, slicing and serving is easy peasy!
Ingredients You Will Need:
For the Cake you will need eggs, unsalted butter (European-style if possible), light brown sugar, vanilla extract, cake flour, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder.
For the butter, I used President, which is French, but you could also use Irish butter or Clover, which is from California and is sold at Whole Foods.
For the frosting, you will need unsalted butter, confectioners' sugar, brewed espresso, and dark rum.
While the original recipe did not include salt, I added a large pinch.... or..... you could substitute salted butter for the unsalted butter. I like how a little bit of salt brings out the rest of the flavors, plus, it helps keep the buttercream fresh for a couple of days.
Finally, you will need walnuts, either walnut halves or walnut pieces. It's hard to find just whole walnut halves at the grocery store. I had to buy two bags of walnuts and pick out the intact halves. Chopped walnuts would be just as tasty.
How to Make this Cake:
First, either line two eight-inch or one ten-inch cake pan with parchment and then grease the sides. I used a ten-inch cake pan by Magic Pan. You could also use a springform pan or a cheesecake pan (with a removable bottom.
Next, cream the butter with the brown sugar until it is pale and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs and then the vanilla.
After that, sift in the dry ingredients and fold everything together. Bake the cake for about 25 minutes.
To make the frosting, whip the butter and then add the confectioners' sugar. Once everything is fluffy, add a big pinch of salt, the espresso, and the rum. If you don't want to use alcohol, you can replace it with a half teaspoon of rum-flavored extract.
Finally, when the cake has cooled, frost it with the icing and decorate it with the walnuts. If you are using two layers, you can sprinkle walnut pieces between the layers.
Walnut Cake Recipe Variations:
You can substitute coffee extract for the espresso powder in the cake recipe.
You can also substitute pecans for the walnuts. Pecan halves are easier to find and would totally work with this recipe. Candied pecans or walnuts would also be amazing.
Of course, a scoop of vanilla or coffee ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce would totally up the decadence of this cake.
Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.
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Walnut Espresso Cake
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Walnut Espresso Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, preferably European, room temperature
- 175 grams (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 180 grams (1 1/2 cups) cake flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 400 grams (3 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup brewed espresso
- 2 teaspoons dark rum
- 25 walnut halves plus more pieces for in between layers if you are making two layers.
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the middle of the oven.
- Line two eight-inch or one ten-inch cake pan with parchment and then grease the sides with spray oil. You could also use a springform pan or a cheesecake pan.
- Whisk the eggs in a small bowl to break up the yolks.
- Next, cream the butter with the brown sugar until it is pale and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs in thirds, incorporating each addition before adding another portion. Then add the vanilla.
- After that, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and fold everything together.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan(s) and then bake the cake for about 25 minutes.
- Cool the cake(s) for five minutes in the pan(s) and then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
- Whip the butter for one minute until light. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy and light in color. Add the salt, espresso, and rum and beat to combine.
- If you are making a two layer cake, ice the bottom layer and top with about 20 walnuts. Top with another layer, ice the top and sides, and decorate with the rest of the walnuts.
- If you are making a single layer cake, ice the top and sides, and decorate with about 25 walnut halves.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
402.2Fat (grams)
23.98 gSat. Fat (grams)
13.72 gCarbs (grams)
44.89 gFiber (grams)
0.48 gNet carbs
44.41 gSugar (grams)
35.3 gProtein (grams)
3.27 gCholesterol (grams)
90.14 mg
or keave it in a square pan and not worry about the sides either. That's my style LOL. Your cake is lovely Karen
ReplyDeleteI could eat that frosting with a spoon! What a lovely cake.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Karen!
ReplyDeleteYour cake looks so moist and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, yes please!!!
ReplyDelete