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Walnut Cake
Serves 8 Cakes, Bread and Pastries
Ingredients
- 85g walnut halves, plus 8 extra halves, to decorate
- 170g butter, softened
- 170g caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs, beaten
- 170g self-raising flour, sifted
For the buttercream
- 115g butter, softened
- 85g icing sugar, sifted
- few drops vanilla extract, to taste
For the boiled icing
- 285g caster sugar
- 11⁄4tsp liquid glucose
- 2 medium egg whites
- few drops vanilla extract, to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C F/Gas 5. Lightly oil 2 x 20cm sandwich tins, line the bases with baking paper, then lightly oil the paper.
Roughly chop the 85g walnuts using a sharp knife, saving all their crumbs. They should be smaller than the chopped walnuts you can buy.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and caster sugar together until pale and fluffy, then gradually beat in 2 of the eggs. Fold in 1tbsp flour, then beat in the last egg. Tip in the remaining flour and the chopped walnuts and lightly fold into the butter mixture. Divide evenly between the 2 sandwich tins and smooth over the surface.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the sponge springs back when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out and peel off the baking paper, then allow to cool completely.
To make the butter cream, beat the butter until pale and fluffy, then beat in the icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract, to taste. Once the cakes are cold, sandwich them together with the butter cream.
To make the boiled icing, put the sugar in a saucepan, add 150ml water and clip a sugar thermometer on to the side of the pan. Set over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the glucose, bring to the boil and, when it gets very close to 116C, start whisking the egg whites in a bowl, using an electric whisk, until they form stiff peaks. As soon as the syrup reaches 116C, pour it in a thin stream into the egg whites while continuing to whisk. The mixture will billow up into a thick, opaque meringue and then collapse down again slightly.
Whisk in a few drops of vanilla, to taste, and after a couple of minutes pour the icing over the cake; don’t leave it too long as the mixture thickens as it cools. Using a wet palette knife, smooth the icing over the cake. Decorate with the walnut halves, then leave for 2 hours or until the icing is firm before serving.
This recipe featured in the May/June 2021 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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