June 20, 2023

Walnut Espresso Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

"This cake drives civilized, we'll mannered people to distraction..."

-Aleksandra Crapanzano

Okay. You got my attention, Aleksandra.

I'm the lone coffee drinker in my house. But I enjoy it enough to make up for all the coffee-averse in my family.

For this month's Cake Slice Bake, I chose the Walnut Espresso Cake from Aleksandra Crapanzano's Gateau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes. Check out the links at the end of this post to see what the other bakers chose!

I was surprised at how little liquid was in this cake. Like none, except the eggs. I thought it would be basically like a pound cake, but it was surprising light for a cake made mostly butter and flour. The recipe recommends higher fat European butter, but regular butter works too.

The cake comes together without a fuss, and has a great flavor. But the buttercream is the real star of this cake.

Butter + Coffee + Sugar + Rum = Love

So give this cake a try! It can be your breakfast and coffee all in one.

(But actually, I'm going to have it with a cup of coffee)

Walnut Espresso Cake

from Gateau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano

Cake:

3 large eggs, room temp

3/4 + 1 T unsalted butter, room temp

3/4 + 2T brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups cake flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fine salt

1 T espresso powder

Buttercream:

1 cup butter

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup espresso

1-2 tsp rum

Walnuts, for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of two 8' pans with parchment, and butter the sides.

2. Crack the eggs into a bowl, and whisk to break up the yolks.

3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until very pale and fluffy. Add 1/3 of the eggs while continuing to beat. Continue adding egg in batches until all incorporated, and add the vanilla.

4. Sift the flour mixture into the butter and gently fold until no streaks of flour remain.

5. Divide between prepared pans, gently smooth the surface of the batter, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.

Buttercream:

1. Beat the powdered sugar and butter together until smooth and creamy. Add the espresso and rum and beat to combine.

2. Put 1/2 of the buttercream between the layers, and top with the remaining frosting. Decorate with walnuts.

Enjoy :)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.