Coffee Cake with Cardamom and Walnuts

The Dough:
175g of butter, soft in cubes
175g caster superfine sugar
1 teaspoon of an instant coffee (I used decaf), dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot boiling water
3 whole free-range eggs, lightly whisked
50g ground almonds
15 cardamom pods, cleaned and mashed
125g of a plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon of baking powder, sifted
50g walnuts, hardly chopped

The Caramel Topping:
50g of walnuts
100g of cane sugar
100ml of cold water

The Cream Filling:
150g of butter, soft in cubes
250g of icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon of an instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot boiling water
5 cardamom pods, cleaned and mashed
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of double cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

The Dough

In a large bowl place the butter and sugar and mix until light and fluffy texture for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pour in the coffee slowly.

Next, add the eggs and continue mixing.

Stir in the cardamom, almonds and flour with baking powder. Mix until smooth.

Gently stir in the walnuts by using a spatula, half at a time.

Divide The Dough into 2 parts and mold evenly into 2 lightly greased tins lined with some baking paper (I used 24cm).

Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until wooden stick comes clean from the middle. Let them cool down completely.

The Caramel Topping

Place walnuts on a solid surface lined with some baking paper.

In a smaller deep pan put sugar and water. Let it simmer on low heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Then, bring it to boil without stirring. Brush the sides of the pan with a wet wooden spatula to prevent a crystal forming.

Next, sprinkle the walnuts with the caramel all over by using a metal spoon. Let it rest. If caramel thickens too quickly, add hot boiling water into a pan, so caramel melts again. This way you clean the pan as well afterwards.

The Cream Filling

Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix it for about 5 minutes until it gets nicely smooth and fluffy. Gradually add coffee, cardamom, vanilla extract and double cream.

Presentation

Now you can nicely start decorating. Spread a small amount of The Cream Filling on the bottom of your serving plate, so the coffee cake nicely sticks to it.

Then, spread a good amount of The Cream Filling over the 1st half of the coffee cake. Layer with another half and cover the top and sides with a palette knife. Create small waves or smoothen with cake smoothers.

For more impressive look break the caramel with walnuts and decorate as you imagine. Serve immediately or sit in a fridge, so the flavour works better within. Enjoy!

Makes 8 serves.