Coffee & walnut traybake
Makes: 24 squares
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Tara Fisher
Coffee & walnut traybake
An easy single-layer cake without a fiddly filling – just cut into squares and enjoy! See our tip below to make it gluten free
Makes: 24 squares
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
256Kcal
Fat
15gr
Saturates
6gr
Carbs
26gr
Sugars
20gr
Fibre
1gr
Protein
4gr
Salt
0.3gr
Debbie Major
Cook, writer and food stylist, Debbie's reputation for foolproof, delicious recipes is second to none. She is renowned for her dedication to seasonal home cooking and her love of all things rustic and authentic. Simplicity over cheffy is her motto!
See more of Debbie Major’s recipes
Debbie Major
Cook, writer and food stylist, Debbie's reputation for foolproof, delicious recipes is second to none. She is renowned for her dedication to seasonal home cooking and her love of all things rustic and authentic. Simplicity over cheffy is her motto!
See more of Debbie Major’s recipes
Ingredients
- 125g walnut halves, chopped
- 2 tbsp instant coffee
- 200g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 225g soft unsalted butter
- 225g light muscovado sugar, sieved to break up any lumps
- 4 medium eggs, at room temperature
For the coffee syrup
- 2 tbsp instant coffee
- 50g icing sugar, sifted
For the icing and decoration
- 4 tsp instant coffee
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
- 24 walnut halves
Step by step
Get ahead
Keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
- Heat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease and line the base and sides of a 23 x 30cm traybake tin (about 4cm deep) with baking paper.
- Spread all the walnuts out on a baking tray, keeping the chopped nuts for the cake and the halves for decoration separate. Toast for 6 minutes, then cool. Dissolve the instant coffee in 1 tablespoon boiling water, and cool.
- Coarsely grind 50g of the chopped walnuts in a food processor. Add half the flour, the baking powder and salt and whiz until finely ground, then mix in the remaining flour. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour mixture with the third and fourth eggs. Gently fold in the remaining flour mixture together with the cold coffee and the remaining 75g of chopped walnuts.
- Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes away cleanly. While the cake is baking, make the coffee syrup by dissolving the instant coffee and icing sugar in 2 tablespoons of boiling water, and leave to cool until the cake is ready. Remove the cooked cake from the oven and pierce all over with a skewer or fork, then brush with the coffee syrup. Leave to cool in the tin.
- For the icing, dissolve the instant coffee in 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Mix into the icing sugar, adding a few more drops of hot water if necessary, to make a smooth, thick icing.
-
Remove the cake from the tin, carefully peel away the paper and place it on a board. Gently spread the icing over the top of the cake. Place 24 walnut halves on to the cake in rows, evenly spaced apart. Leave for 30-40 minutes for the icing to set, then cut into squares.TipHow to make it gluten free
Use GF flour and baking powder, adding ½ teaspoon xanthan gum with the dry ingredients. You can add a couple of tablespoons of milk to loosen the mixture if it seems too stiff.
