Coffee cake with walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C, gas mark 4. Grease then line the bases of 2 x 20cm round sandwich tins. Dissolve the espresso coffee powder in 100ml boiling water. Stir together the buttermilk and 3 tbsp of the coffee, reserving the rest of the coffee. Put the butter, light brown soft sugar and caster sugar in a large bowl and beat until creamy and light using either electric beaters or a freestanding mixer. Add 1 egg, beat until creamy, then repeat until all the eggs have been incorporated.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cornflour and bicarbonate of soda, then sift half over the egg mixture. Fold in gently with a large metal spoon or spatula, then fold in half the coffee- buttermilk mixture. Don’t worry if it looks a little split. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and coffee-buttermilk mixture, then fold in the chopped nuts. Divide the batter evenly between the tins, level out, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen, dark golden and shrinking from the sides. Cool completely in the tins, on a wire rack.

3. For the icing, put the butter, icing sugar and 4 tsp reserved coffee into a large bowl. Stir slowly until combined, then beat well with a wooden spoon (or use electric beaters or a freestanding mixer) until creamy and smooth. Put 1 cake onto a plate, bottom-side up. Peel off the parchment then drizzle the cake with 1 tbsp coffee. Spread over ¹⁄ ³ of the icing, then stack the second cake on top, the right way up. Mound the remaining icing on top, then spread it over the top of the cake using a palette knife. Decorate the top with the walnuts.