Recipe: coffee, walnut and milk chocolate cake

A single layer cake with brown sugar crème fraîche

The combination of coffee and walnut in a cake or dessert is a very nostalgic one for me. When I was little, my mum would make a coffee and walnut meringue whenever my grandparents came over for dinner because it was my grandpa’s favourite. Alongside a victoria sponge and lemon drizzle cake, a coffee and walnut cake, to me, is one of the staples when you think of cake in the UK, and this is my version.

Once baked, this cake is a rich, burnished golden due to the presence of brown sugar and coffee. It is beautifully nobbly with the subtle crunches of chopped walnut, and uncious pockets of milk chocolate, and its topping–whipped brown sugar créme fraîche–is so beautifully light, sweet and tangy, and is also one of my favourite accompaniments to make for a number of different cakes and tarts. A heavy dusting of cocoa powder and crushed instant coffee allows for a brief but intense flavour as soon as this cake touches the tongue. I hope you’ll love this recipe as much as I do.