Vegan coffee walnut cake

Vegan coffee walnut cake

vegan coffee walnut cake cut

It’s almost the weekend again, yay! I am looking forward to this one immensely given that the last one did not feel like a weekend at all. We put the final coat of paint on the guest bedroom’s walls last night and the room looks fantastic this morning. Once our guests leave, we will paint the skirting boards and the radiator (like the walls, it’s been also painted lilac!! by the previous owners) and then on to the fun stuff – picking a light, furniture, soft furnishings, maybe a couple of plants that will endure my gardening anti-talent 😉 .

After we are done with this room, we will take a bit of a breather and then move onto finishing the study. At the moment, only half of the wallpaper has been stripped off and the other half of that toxic stuff is still waiting for us. Meh, it’s easily one of the least enjoyable jobs, but it is easy to do, so we might as well do that and pay for jobs we are not able to take care ourselves – like our roof needs some TLC apparently! Oh well, that’s the trade-off for the Victorian charm.

It was Duncan’s birthday earlier this month, but as it coincided with us moving house, I did not manage to bake him a cake – not that he is ever deprived of cakes in this house, mind you! So I’ve decided to put it right and made one of his favourites – vegan coffee and walnut cake.

It’s a small cake rather than a full-blown birthday layer cake as I am really busy today again getting the house ready for our guests, washing, cleaning and pottering. But he does not mind as we’ve been pigging out a bit lately and I also heard from my brother that my mom is sending us truckloads of vegan mazurek (traditional Polish Easter cake, which is essentially a shortbread base deep-filled with a variety of fillings) so there will be lots of sweet stuff to get through. What a chore 😛 !

vegan coffee walnut cake icing

vegan coffee walnut cake walnut

vegan coffee walnut cake cross section

makes
1 kg / 2 lb
PREP
30 min
COOKING
50 min
makes
1 kg / 2 lb
PREPARATION
30 min
COOKING
50 min
INGREDIENTS
COFFEE FROSTING (I recommend making it a day ahead)

  • 60 ml / ¼ cup maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup very strong coffee*
  • 195 g / 1½ cups raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for 20 min

WALNUT CAKE
Dry ingredients

  • 180 g / 1½ cups all purpose white flour or all purpose GF flour mix
  • 100 g / 1 cup finely ground walnuts
  • ½ heaped tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 150 g / ¾ cup caster sugar
  • chopped walnuts, to decorate (optional)

Wet ingredients

  • 195 ml / ¾ cup + 1 tbsp plant milk (I used almond milk)
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup very strong coffee*
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup melted refined coconut oil (or other mild tasting oil)

METHOD

COFFEE FROSTING (I recommend making it a day ahead)

  1. Put maple syrup, vanilla extract and coffee at the bottom of a blender. Add approximately one quarter of the drained cashews (discard the water) and blend until super smooth.
  2. Proceed to blend the cashews until super smooth, quarter by quarter. If your blender is getting stuck, try breaking an air pocket that tends to form under the mixture of the surface with a spatula while the blender is operating (but please be extra careful not to go anywhere near the blades). If that does not help add a touch of plant milk, but no more than 1-2 tbsp of thin milk. This should help your blender churn the thick mixture.
  3. Refrigerate for a few hours, ideally overnight, for the mixture to thicken and for the flavours to develop.

CAKE

  1. Set the oven to 180° C / 355° F (160° C / 320° F fan forced). Grease a 900 g / 2 lb cake tin (please see notes) with a little bit of oil.
  2. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients (ground walnuts, baking soda and baking powder) and fine caster sugar. Mix everything well.
  3. Add all the wet ingredients (if using coconut oil, warm up plant milk a little as refrigerated milk will make coconut oil solidify) and fold them gently into the dry ingredients until no flour pockets remain.
  4. Fill the tin with the batter – it should be thick but still very pourable – and place in the preheated oven for approx. 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Let the cake cool down completely before removing it from the tin, icing it, decorating with chopped walnuts and cutting into slices.

NOTES
*I made ½ cup / 120 ml of very strong coffee (3 tbsp, I used Chemex) and divided it between the icing and the cake. You could also use instant coffee and hot water.

PLEASE NOTE that a 2lb cake tin is very different from a 2lb bread tin. A 2lb cake tin (which should be used here) holds about 5 cups / 1250 ml (by contrast the bread one holds 8 cups / 2000 ml). The batter should fill no more than 2/3 – 3/4 of the 2lb cake tin or else the cake may not raise.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
318
16%
sugars
18 g
20%
fats
18 g
26%
saturates
6 g
30%
proteins
6 g
12%
carbs
36 g
14%
*per serving
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4.9
32 reviews, 102 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
James:
This recipe is a little tricky to make, but very well worth the effort, as the result is utterly delicious. My wife thinks that this is the best cake I have ever made - I think she is right!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you James, I am delighted to hear that this cake has gone down so well with you and your wife! I really appreciate you taking the time to review. Ania
Love it, and think it’s got to be healthier than traditional recipes
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Paula, I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed it and many thanks for taking the time to review - I really appreciate it. Ania
Pippa J:
Awesome recipe! Cake is moist and not dense. Made it with the classic vegan butter butter cream but looking forward to trying the cashew variety. This cake takes me right back to afternoon teas in English gardens!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Pippa. I am so happy to hear that this cake came out well and thank you enjoyed it so much. Thank you for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. Ania
Ankita:
hi, on the ingredients it says baking powder and on the recipe it says Baking soda. which one is it.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi,
    If you take another look the ingredients list says BOTH and so do the instructions underneath. Hope this helps. Ania
Ania:
Hi Ania
what can I use instead of cashew nuts?
    Ania
    Ania:
    How about sunflower seeds? They work the same way (also need to be soaked first) or macadamia nuts are two alternatives I can think of. Otherwise you can make a classic vegan buttercream: vegan butter, icing sugar, instant coffee diluted in a few drops of water. Hope this helps! Ania
@ourlifeblogged:
Super simple and quick to make. This recipe has all the flavours and textures you'd expect from a 'classic' recipe and is a brilliant vegan adaptation.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you so much, I am delighted to hear that this recipe has ticked all the boxes for your. Thanks for taking the time to review - I really appreciate it. x Ania
Kate:
Tasted amazing, loved the texture. I used soy milk and olive oil
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Kate! I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed it so much and thanks for taking the time to review. x Ania
Imogen Williams:
So inspirational
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thanks :) x Ania
Veronica:
Hi again. I just re-read your recipe and can see that coconut oil can be substituted. Please ignore my previous question :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Glad you found the answer and I hope you'll enjoy it! :) Ania
Veronica:
Hi. Due to high cholesterol issues, I'm advised not to use coconut oil and wondered if this recipe would work with rapeseed oil as a substitute?
Priya:
Hello, would it be alright if I used blanched almond flour for the GF flour?
This cake looks absolutely delicious and the reviews are great, so I'm eager to make it!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Priya,
    It won't be exactlt the same (almond flour is very fine) but it should work okay. The flavour will be different, of course! I would use the same amount by weight not volume. Hope you'll enjoy it. x Ania
Anita:
Can I bake this in a cake pan, and what dimensions would you recommend?
Would it alter the flavour/texture much to use ground almonds in place of ground walnuts?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Anita,
    When you say a cake pan, what exactly do you mean? This cake is based on my earlier recipe (see here), which I baked in a 16.5 / 6.5 inches springform tin. To make it bigger (also 2 layers) so that it fits a 20 cm / 8 inch round tin, you will need to add 50% more batter ingredients and extend baking time a little. You can use ground almonds, they are ground a bit finer usually but that should be okay, the flavour will be different though, yes. Hope this helps! Ania
Mary:
This cake was divine! So easy to make, and by far the most delicious coffee cake I’ve ever eaten, vegan or otherwise. It was moist, subtle, sophisticated - so more-ish. Thank you Ania, your recipes are always beautifully thought out and reliably brilliant. 🙏
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thank you so much Mary! I am absolutely chuffed to hear that you enjoyed this cake so much (it's my husband's favourite too) and thank you so much for taking the time to review, as always, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Radmila Dolokhanova:
Last q - I have a regular banana bread pan, will that totally change the results?!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi,
    I am not sure what you mean by 'regular banana bread pan', but I baked this cake in a rectangular 2lb loaf cake pan that holds 5 cups (1250 ml) of liquid to the brim. And yes, the size of the tin and the surface area of the cake does affect the results. Hope that helps. Ania
Radmila Dolokhanova:
Hi! Can I blend walnuts myself to make finely ground walnuts? Or do you suggest a meal?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Radmila,
    Yes, sure you can! In fact that's what I did too. Just makes sure to blend them finely. Hope you'll enjoy the cake. x Ania
Laura Dixon:
Amazing recipe, holds together with great texture unlike some other vegan cake recipes. Great flavour which won over non-vegan family and friends! We love Lazy Cat Kitchen recipes and they’re our go-to when looking for something new to make.
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm so delighted to hear that this cake was a hit with you and even your non-vegan family and friends, that's so lovely to hear! Thank you for trusting my recipes and I really appreciate you taking the time to leave this lovely review, thank you! x Ania
Veronika:
I made this cake for a friends birthday and everybody was delighted by the delicious coffee-nut taste. I used pecans instead of walnuts and additionally added a pinch of tonka bean to the frosting. It was perfect!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm really happy that you and your friends enjoyed this cake, Veronika and thank you so much for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Meriani Ang:
Amazing recipe. The coffee frosting turns out very delicious, my brother who is not a vegan even love it and praise it.
I substitute caster sugar with powdered palm sugar and use only 80 gr, perfectly sweet for my taste bud. The cake is still in the oven but the smells good all around the house. Thanks for the good recipe Ania. I always confuse how to utilize the walnut since i am not a big fan of its taste and aroma. But hopefully the cake turns out delicious since the walnut aroma covered by coffee. Your recipe is very easy to follow and all the ingredients available in my kitchen.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Meriani! I'm delighted to hear that the frosting went down so well, including your non-vegan brother, I hope the cake does too. I am a little worried about reducing sugar that much as sugar isn't just there for sweetness but also structure/crumb, but I hope that the cake won't be negatively affected - fingers crossed. x Ania
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