Recipes: Coffee and Walnut / any kind of nut cake...

This weekend I went baking crazy! With thanks to Mary Berry and the Great British Bake-Off Sport Relief I decided to indulge my inner domestic - cake - Goddess and bake my own version of Mary's classic, her Coffee and Walnut cake.

A traditional favourite, my mum used to make this for us as kids, and I loved it even from a young age (yes, my caffeine addiction started young) it brings back great memories for me, and at the age of 28, I have avoided making one of these cakes as I was slightly worried, it would never be as good as mum made! but after watching (read this as dribbling) people bake this very cake, I decided to give it a go!

Mary Berry's Coffee and Walnut Cake

* Please note, that I made a few changes to the original recipe, so will use these instead of the original. If you want to follow Mary Berry's recipe, a full copy cam be found HERE *

Ingredients:

Cake:
100g/4oz soft butter or baking spread

100g/4oz caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs
100g/4oz self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g/2oz chopped walnuts, but if like me you don't have enough - any nut will do
2 tbsp coffee mixed with water - you can add more or less, pretty much depends on how strong you like your cawfee!
Icing and Filling:
200g butter

2-300g icing sugar
1tsp coffee mixed with a mere spattering of water


Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and Grease and line the bases of two sandwich tins with baking parchment. Mine measured about 18cm - this is not essential.

2. Add your butter and caster sugar and beat together till light, fluffy and smooth. If you're doing this by hand (like me) this is a tres good arm workout - PHEW!

Chop your selection of nuts into smaller, bitesize pieces - this can be done as rough as you like. Once all smooth, add all the other ingredients: eggs, flour, baking powder, your chopped nuts and coffee / water mix.
Beat all of these together until well combined and mixed.

3. Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula or palette knife. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until an inserted knife / skewer comes out clean. Allow to stand for five - ten minutes before peeling off the parchment paper and turning onto a wire rack to cool.

4.For the filling and topping, beat the butter and gradually add the icing sugar. When all the icing sugar is added, add your coffee mix, only a bit at a time!! I made the mistake of adding too much first time and err it was beyond runny! and beat until smooth.

5.When the cakes have completely cooled, spread half the coffee icing on one cake and squish together with the other half.

6. Ice the top of the cake with the remaining coffee icing and decorate with more chopped nuts. I ended up bashing the nuts into smaller sprinkling by grinding with the pestle and mortar.

Then Ta-Da! Traditional cakey goodness!