This is a must recipe for those coffee and nut lovers. Two light coffee and chopped walnut sponges are sandwiched together with a coffee butter icing and completely covered with more icing. Then walnut halves are used to decorate the top.

Walnut and Coffee Sponge Cake
- Preparation time: 35 minutes
- Cooking time: 30–35 minutes
- Ingredients
- For the cake
- 225 g (8 oz) caster sugar/superfine sugar (1⅛ cups)
- 225 g (8 oz) butter, softened (1 cup, or 2 sticks)
- 1 tbsp coffee essence/extract OR 2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in a tablespoon of boiling water
- 225 g (8 oz) self-raising/self-rising flour (1¾ cups)
- 115 g (4 oz) chopped walnuts (1 cup)
- 4 eggs, large (U.K.)/extra large (N.A.)
- For the icing
- 140 g (5 oz) butter, softened (⅔ cup, or 1¼ sticks)
- 340 g (12 oz) icing/powdered sugar (3 cups)
- 1½ tbsp coffee essence/extract
- 13 walnut halves for decoration
Equipment
- You will also need 2 x 20.5 cm (8 inch) cake pans, greased and base lined.
- Method
- Sift the flour into a bowl.
- Using an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
- Mix in the coffee essence/extract.
- Now beat in the eggs into the creamed mixture, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each egg which will prevent curdling.
- Then fold in the remaining flour and chopped nuts.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the tops of the cakes are firm and spring back when gently pressed with the tip of a finger.
- Remove from the oven and place the pans on cooling racks for 2 minutes before turning out the sponges and removing the liners. Leave on the cooling racks to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, to make the icing, sift the icing/powdered sugar into a large bowl and add the butter and coffee essence/extract. Beat together until the icing is smooth.
- Once the sponges are cool, invert one of the sponges and place on a serving plate.
- Spread with one third of the icing.
- Then sandwich together with the other sponge.
- Use the remaining icing to cover the top and sides of the cake.
- Finally decorate the top with the walnut halves.