Easy Coffee and Walnut Loaf Cake Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Easy Coffee and Walnut Loaf Cake Recipe

This easy coffee and walnut loaf is the perfect afternoon tea treat for coffee lovers. This classic British bake is a deliciously soft, moist, and golden sponge cake topped with coffee buttercream and crunchy walnuts.

I'll also show you how to make this coffee walnut cake in a Ninja Foodi or Ninja Speedi using the steam and bake setting.

Prep Time10

Cook Time45

Total Time55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: british

Keyword: afternoon tea, buttercream, cake, coffee, coffee and walnut, coffee and walnut cake, coffee cake, walnuts

Servings: slices

Calories: 583kcal

Author: Vikkie Lee

Equipment

measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Weighing scales
electric whisk
Mixing bowl
Chopping knife
Chopping board
2lb loaf liner
2lb loaf tin Or a round 9" cake tin works perfcetly, too (see FAQs)
Cooling rack
cake skewer

Ingredients

2 tablespoon Instant coffee Espresso or other strong coffee granules
1.5 tablespoon Boiling water
½ tablespoon Milk
225 g Butter softened (1 cup)
215 g Light brown soft sugar 1 cup packed
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 Eggs whisked
210 g Self raising flour (1 & ¾ cups)
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Sea salt
70 g Walnut halves (⅔ cup), then chopped into small pieces

Butter Cream

112 g Butter (½ cup)
200 g Icing sugar (1 & ⅔ cups)
1.5 tablespoon Instant coffee
1 tablespoon Boiling water
¾ tablespoon Milk
40 g Walnuts chopped, to decorate (⅓ cup)

Instructions

First, preheat your oven or Ninja Foodi/Speedi using one of the following temperatures: Gas mark 4, 350F, 180c 160c fan, Air fryer 150c (325F).
Now add boiling water to the instant coffee powder and mix until dissolved. and then stir in the milk and let cool while you make the raw batter.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl, too.
Mixing in the wet ingredients: start by adding the strong coffee mixture and whisk again until it has all blended in.
Now pour in a little bit of egg mix. Then mix in until it is fully incorporated.
Repeat until all of the beaten egg is mixed in, then mix in the vanilla extract.
Fold in the following dry ingredients: self-raising flour, salt, and ground cinnamon.
We don't want to knock too much air out of the batter.
Now fold in the chopped or blitzed walnuts.
Butter and line your loaf tin or round pan with baking paper.
Then spoon in the batter and level with the back of a wooden spoon and bake in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Insert a skewer in the centre of the cake to see if it comes out clean. If it looks fudgy, bake for another 10 minutes or so. Note: if it looks baked on top, cover with tin foil to prevent burning while baking in 10 minute increments.
Once the cake is baked, place it on a cooling rack to fully cool.
Once cooled, start making the buttercream by creaming the icing sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl with your mixer until light and creamy
Now make up and stir in some coffee again mix in until you have smooth icing sugar.
Spread the coffee buttercream on top of the cake with a knife or piping bag.
Then sprinkle more chopped walnuts to decorate and serve.

Video

Notes

Avoid using soft butter spreads that are blended with oils when it comes to the icing sugar as it won't set as firmly

Don't open the oven before the 45 minutes is over to prevent the cake from sinking

Towards the end of baking, if you find the cake is browning too much and a skewer doesn't come out clean, cover with tin foil and bake for another 10 minutes and repeat if necessary

Make sure the cake has fully cooled when adding the buttercream, otherwise it can melt.

If wanting to add a second cake layer, you can slice the cake in half or split the batter into 2 pans. If the latter, bake both on the same shelf and reduce to the baking time to 25-30 minutes

When sandwiching two layers with buttercream, add them right side up so any rises are facing upwards

To serve more people on a budget, use a 23 x 30cm (13" x 9") baking tray for a coffee tray bake and bake for 25-30 minutes, then cut into 24 squares

Nutrition