The ultimate makeover: Coffee walnut cake

The ultimate makeover: Coffee walnut cake

A delicious but lighter version of teatime favourite, coffee and walnut cake

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Cuts into 12 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Freezable

Unfilled cake can be frozen

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil and bottom-line a 20cm round (6cm deep) loose-bottom tin. For the cake, mix the coffee with 2 tsp warm water and set aside. Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the baking powder, ground almonds, both sugars (use fingers to rub out any lumps from the muscovado) and walnuts, then make a dip in the centre. Put the eggs, yogurt, oil and coffee mix into the dip and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon so everything is evenly mixed. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top to level it, then bake for 40-45 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the tin briefly, then turn it out and peel off the lining paper. Leave to cool completely while you make the filling and icing.
  2. Make the syrup for the filling: put the caster sugar and coffee into a small, heavy-based saucepan, then pour in 3 tbsp water. Heat gently, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. Once dissolved, raise the heat, then boil at a fast rolling boil for about 2½-3 mins until thickened and syrupy. Pour into a small heatproof bowl and set aside to cool. When cold it should be the consistency of treacle.
  3. Meanwhile, finish off the filling and make the icing. Beat the mascarpone, quark, icing sugar and vanilla together until smooth, then stir in the cold coffee syrup. Set aside. For the icing, sift the fondant icing sugar into a bowl. Mix the coffee with 1 tbsp warm water, stir this into the fondant icing sugar with about 1 more tsp water to give a smooth, thick but spreadable icing. Split the cake into 3, then sandwich back together with the filling. Spread the icing over the top, scatter over the chopped walnuts and leave to set. Store in the fridge.
Try

How Angela made it healthier

Angela lowered the fat by replacing butter in the cake with walnut oil and yogurt. She replaced a buttercream filling with one made with light mascarpone and quark. She reduced walnuts and gained walnut flavour from the oil. She also reduced the sugar, using less in the cake; bumped up the flavour by combining light muscovado with golden caster, and made a filling that required less sugar.

336 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 45g, fat 15 g, saturated fat 4g, fibre 1g, sugar 30g, salt 0.43 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Dory6

    2009-08-18 15:53:58.242404

    Dory6 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy, guilt free cake that tastes fab. I've made it twice now and the only thing I would say is that it didn't seem to rise very much, I certainly didn't manage to cut mine into 3 layers, don't think that the filling would have been enough for the it, even if I had managed to. Excellent!

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  • Binder photo Tordi

    2009-08-19 09:56:38.117633

    Tordi commented on this recipe

    I made this last week and everyone loved it and no-one guessed it was lower fat. Only problem I had was burning the syrup so I had to make a second batch - this bit really does need timing. Other than that it worked really well.

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  • Binder photo kasia

    2009-08-19 14:47:49.407013

    kasia commented on this recipe

    LOVELY!!!! And sooooooooooo easy!!!! Good advice from Tordi - keep an eye on syrup, it's really easy to burn! :)))

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  • Binder photo kasia

    2009-08-19 14:48:02.674428

    kasia rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo diana

    2009-08-21 16:34:38.113103

    diana commented on this recipe

    I put cake into a big roasting tin. And Just put fondant icing sugar on the top . lovely thanks

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  • Binder photo beksa

    2010-06-24 21:21:13.177233

    beksa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Lovely moist cake and so straightforward to do! It was very much liked and will certainly make it again! Best of all it has less calories than the regular version so I could indulge without worrying to much about the buldge!-)

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  • Binder photo Dill

    2010-08-22 22:27:54.198737

    Dill commented on this recipe

    I had two attempts at this today and couldn't get it to rise. My ingredients had been out of the fridge for over an hour, my baking powder was fresh, I seived the flour, pre-heated the fan oven 160C, baked it for 45mins. Where did I go wrong? My only deviation from the instructions was that I used a spring form tin. Any advice would be appreciated.

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  • Binder photo Ola

    2010-11-25 20:47:40.51925

    Ola commented on this recipe

    I would like to try it but not sure where to get light mascarpone?

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  • Binder photo tatiana

    2011-02-24 23:07:22.849219

    tatiana commented on this recipe

    me and my family made this and after we eat it all and we felt we wanted more! i made cupcakes a mini version they are eiser than this. the person who could not make this rise did you have the oven on the right temp????? 10000/10000 my rating of this cake and cupcakes!!

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  • Binder photo Serendippity

    2011-03-30 15:18:32.945311

    Serendippity commented on this recipe

    Where on earth do you get Quark? I've never seen it on sale anywhere and not 100% sure what it is... some kind of cream cheese?

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  • Binder photo bunties

    2011-04-06 21:36:05.862733

    bunties commented on this recipe

    I haven't made this recipe yet, but to answer Serendippity and Ola's questions... Quark is a low fat, curd type cheese, sold in a tub, I can buy it in my local Sainsburys, it's usually on a high self though. Light Mascarpone is also available in my local sainsburys, it is usually with a selection of other low fat cheeses away from the regular mascarpone.

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  • Binder photo LindyLou

    2011-05-02 21:14:46.336095

    LindyLou rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this today and it was really easy to do. The cake was lovely and soft with a light texture. It turned out perfect even though i changed the yogurt to healthy eating creme freche as i did'nt have yogurt. Next time i'll do the yogurt version. I found the cake to be not too sweet which we prefer. I think i'll make 2 cakes next time and freeze one unfilled. Will definately be adding this one to my favourites list.

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  • Binder photo DesignerDishes

    2011-06-02 13:35:05.412726

    DesignerDishes rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    A great recipe - not too sweet so it might not be to everyone's taste. I found that the cake did rise but not as much as a standard sponge - I too couldn't cut mine into three. I made mine in a loaf tin, which worked well. You can see photo's and my full verdict here: http://designerdishes.blogspot.com/2011/06/scrumptious-coffee-walnut-cake.html

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  • Binder photo Hope

    2011-07-15 11:11:12.723558

    Hope commented on this recipe

    It's my Dad's 50th birthday soon and he LOVES coffee and walnut cake but he's trying to lose weight, this will be perfect for his birthday cake!! woohoo!

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  • Binder photo thegirlnextdoor

    2011-07-17 15:45:02.594874

    thegirlnextdoor commented on this recipe

    I am sorry but you can never 'Healthise' the walnut and coffee cake. But great try!

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  • Binder photo Low Fat

    2012-06-07 08:04:50.557526

    Low Fat commented on this recipe

    This is my first attempt at making this. It came out really well! I never use self raising flour though, I always make my own by adding 1tsp baking powder to every 110g plain flour. Slicing the sponge into three sounded like too much like hard work and too messy for me, so I just poured the sponge mix into 2 8inch tins, cooked for 35mins and sandwiched them together with the filling. Instead of making the fondant icing sugar topping I just topped it with the leftover mascarpone filling I saved from not using it on 2 centre sponges.

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  • Binder photo kittykat

    2012-08-29 16:58:15.672953

    kittykat rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this for a family meal and everyone loved it. I added an extra egg whites, and instead of adding the whole eggs in with the yoghurt etc I just added the yolks. I whisked up the 3 whites and folded them in at the end to add lots of air and the sponge was very fluffy. I did have a problem with a slightly soggier middle so I think I would bake it for 5/10 more minutes with the added egg white. I think next time though I would just use low fat cream cheese as I thought the quark had a bit of a funny after taste.

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  • Binder photo Lauren

    2012-10-08 20:18:40.419867

    Lauren rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious!! Made this into cupcakes and baked for 30min. They came out perfectly

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  • Binder photo tartybaker

    2012-11-28 19:51:01.403232

    tartybaker rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very easy to make. I wanted to cut down even more on the calories & fat so I made a traybake, cut it in half when cooked & put half in the freezer. I did however put the full amount of coffee icing on the one half as it just didn't seem enough to cover both & it is my favourite icing of all. The end result is awsome, very light very tasty & very moorish. It just leaves you wanting more.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Cuts into 12 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Freezable

Unfilled cake can be frozen

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp coffee granules, plus 1 tsp
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 85g light muscovado sugar
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • 25g chopped walnuts
  • 2 eggs , beaten
  • 250g natural yogurt
  • 75ml walnut oil

FOR THE FILLING

  • 2 tbsp golden caster sugar
  • 2 tsp coffee granules
  • 140g light mascarpone
  • 100g Quark
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract

FOR THE ICING

  • 140g fondant icing sugar
  • 1 tsp coffee granules
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped walnuts
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336 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 45g, fat 15 g, saturated fat 4g, fibre 1g, sugar 30g, salt 0.43 g

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