walnut cake

All these years, whenever I bake cakes, I have always used Self-Raising Flour. It is important to sift the flour before you add it to the rest of your batter. Self-Raising Flour is suitable to bake cakes such as banana cake.

A while ago, my friend SY informed me that she uses Top Flour to bake her cakes. Top Flour is suitable to bake cakes such as chiffon cakes or Christmas log cakes.

In December 2008, I bought a packet of Cake Flour. I had actually intended to bake a cheesecake using the Cake Flour. However, I changed my mind on the Eve of Christmas Eve in 2008. I decided to bake a walnut cake to bring to my office to share with my colleagues on Christmas Eve. Cake Flour is suitable to bake cakes that are more dense, such as pound cakes.

As the walnut cake that I made actually comprises several layers (baked together), it would be easier to use a greased and lined springform pan or a loose bottom pan. For the walnut cake that I baked, I used a 9" springform pan. The cake was not as high as I would have liked it to be. As such, it would be better to use an 8" springform or loose bottom pan instead.


Ingredients (for the walnut mixture)

150g digestive biscuits (crushed)
50g light brown sugar
80g walnuts (lightly roasted and chopped coarsely / crushed)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp 3-in-1 instant coffee powder
50g butter (cold)

Ingredients (cake)

200g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g butter (softened)
50g brown sugar
50g castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp ground almond
2 eggs
150g plain yoghurt

Method

1. Grease the bottom and sides of a springform or loose bottom pan with margarine or butter. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with baking paper.

2. Place the walnuts on a baking tray and bake at 160 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. Let the walnuts cool slightly before using a walnut crusher to crush the walnuts. Alternatively, you can use a rolling pin to coarsely crush the walnuts.

3. Crush the digestive biscuits in a mixing bowl and add the light brown sugar, crushed walnuts, ground cinnamon and instant coffee powder. Mix well.

4. Using your finger tips, rub in the cold butter until the mixture becomes crumbly. Set aside.

5. Sift the cake flour and baking powder. Set aside.

6. Beat the softened butter with the brown sugar and the castor sugar until the batter becomes pale and creamy. You can either use a manual whisk or electric mixer.

7. Add the vanilla extract, salt, ground cinnamon and ground almond. Mix well.

8. With a spatula, stir in the cake flour / baking powder mixture. Stir until the flour mixture is fully mixed with the batter. (Note: the batter will be quite thick and firm.)

9. Add 1/2 the yoghurt and mix. Add the remaining yoghurt and mix until the batter becomes smooth and has "spreadable" consistency.

10. Add 1/3 of the walnut mixture to the baking pan. Spread evenly and press firmly to the bottom of the pan using your palm and fingers.

11. Add half of the cake batter and spread evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the top of the cake batter evenly with 1/3 of the walnut mixture.

12. Add the remaining cake mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle the top of the cake batter evenly with the remaining walnut mixture.

13. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees celsius for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

14. Remove the cake from the oven and let the cake cool thoroughly before slicing the cake.

Tip

If you do not intend to eat the cake on the day that you bake it, you can refrigerate the cake. However, do let the cake return to room temperature before serving.