Coffee and walnut cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 225g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 225g caster sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 50ml strong espresso coffee / coffee
- 225g self-raising flour
- 75g walnuts
For the butter cream topping
- 125g butter
- 200g icing sugar
- 50ml strong espresso coffee
- 12 walnut halves, to decorate
Preparation method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until very light and pale.
- Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well to completely incorporate each egg before adding the next egg.
- Add the espresso to the mixture and stir well.
- Add the flour and walnuts and stir well to completely combine.
- Spoon the cake mixture into two lined and greased 8in cake tins.
- Transfer to the oven to bake 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the cake is golden-brown.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- For the butter cream topping, beat the butter and icing sugar together in a small bowl until pale and light.
- Add the espresso and mix well.
- Spread the butter cream over the top of each cake, then place one cake on top of the other.
- Decorate the top of the cake with the walnut halves and serve in generous slices.
Macaroons
Almond macaroons originated in an Italian monastery around 1792. The name comes from the Italian word for paste, maccarone, which refers to almond paste. (Macaroni means flour paste.)
A little later, two Carmelite nuns, seeking refuge in the town of Nancy during the French Revolution, paid for their housing by baking and selling macaroon cookies. They became known as “Macaroon Sisters.”
As the story goes, the nuns followed the principle: “Almonds are good for girls who do not eat meat.”
Ingredients
- 125g ground almonds
- 200g icing sugar
- 3 medium egg whites
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- pinch red powdered food colouring
For the chocolate filling
- 200g dark chocolate, chopped
- 200ml double cream
- 1 tsp brandy
- 15g butter
Preparation method
- Blend the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor until well combined. Set aside.
- Using an electric whisk, slowly whisk the egg whites in a large bowl at a low speed until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed. Slowly whisk in the baking powder and caster sugar until the mixture is smooth and glossy, increasing the speed of the whisk as the mixture stiffens.
- Gently fold in the food colouring and blended ground almonds and icing sugar until the mixture resembles shaving foam.
- Spoon the macaroon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm round nozzle. Pipe 5cm circles onto the baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. If a peak forms, wet your finger and smooth it down. Sharply tap the bottom of the tray to release any air bubbles from the macaroons, then set aside for 60 minutes (the macaroon shells are ready to go in the oven when they are no longer sticky to the touch).
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160C/315F/Gas 2½.
- Bake the macaroons in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully peel away the greaseproof paper and set aside to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, for the chocolate filling, heat the double cream and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth and well combined. Add the brandy and butter and stir until smooth, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
- Use the filling to sandwich the macaroons together then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Top recipe tip
Make sure you leave enough space between the macaroons to allow for spreading during cooking.