A lazy weekend day is the perfect time to get cosy indoors with your favourite hot beverage, as most people are spending lots of time at home at the moment due to the cold and wet weather.
A generous slice of coffee cake is the perfect pairing to go along with any toasty drink on a rainy day, and it is incredibly easy to bake for yourself at home.
Mary Berry has shared her recipe for her delicious coffee cake in her cookbook Simple Cales and explained she was inspired by a popular New Zealand ice cream “hokey pokey” which has a honeycomb toffee flavour.
The baking legend has been able to emulate this treat by making a simple walnut praline which is added to the icing and gives the cake a caramel-like taste.
Berry wrote: “A special cake from New Zealand, coffee and walnuts have a natural affinity and makes a delicious cake.
“The addition of walnut praline makes this extra special. Save the best pieces to decorate the cake, shop up the remainder and add to the icing in the middle.”
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Instructions
To bake the cake:
To begin, lightly grease the cake tibs and line them with non-stick baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160C or Gas Mark 3.
Place all the ingredients for the cake into a mixing bowl and beat until thoroughly blended. An electric mixer is best for this but can be done by hand with a wooden spoon as well.
Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and evenly level the surface with the back of a spoon or with a plastic spatula.
Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven until the cakes have risen and are golden in colour.
Once fully cooked, take the cake tins out of the oven and allow the cakes to cool inside the tins for around five minutes.
Next, run a blunt knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen them, then turn them upside down onto a wire rack, peel off the baking paper and leave them to cool down completely.
To make the walnut praline:
While the cakes are cooking in the oven or cooling down, make the walnut praline. Simply pour water and the caster sugar into a small saucepan.
Gently heat the mixture until the sugar completely dissolves and the mixture becomes brown. Keep a sharp eye on the mixture as it can burn easily if left unattended.
Once a deep nutty brown colour, take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the walnuts. Pour the mixture onto an oiled baking tray or a tray lined with baking paper.
Leave it alone to cool down completely. Once cold, roughly break up the praline with your hands.
To make the butter icing:
Place the butter and icing sugar in a small bowl.
Dissolve the instant coffee with one and a half tablespoons of boiling hot water, and add the dissolved coffee into the bowl.
Mix all the ingredients together until well combined and blended.
Assemble the coffee cake:
Choose the cake half with the better top, then place the other cake on a serving plate.
Spread half of the butter icing and add some of the chopped praline to the bottom cake half.
Place the top cake half on top. Spread the remaining butter icing on top of the cake and use a blunt knife to ensure the icing is neat.
Decorate by sprinkling the remaining walnut praline pieces on top of the cake.
Your creamy and delicious coffee cake is now ready to eat.
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