Hello! Today I am going to chat to you about one of my favourite things that I've baked so far, the Coffee and Walnut Traybake. I have to thank Mary Berry for this, her book is accurately named the 'Baking Bible*' and it really is. All the recipes I've made have been easy to follow and the results are always spot on and almost every baking recipe you can think of is covered in this book which is the main reason why I wanted it. The bakes in here are very traditional, so it you're looking for something a bit more creative this isn't necessarily for you but to be honest I tend to browse Pinterest for inspiration if I'm looking to do something a bit more fun.
Anyway, back to the traybake! There are a few different variations of this cake in Mary Berry's book but I chose the traybake because I think they are often easier to make cut and transport than a traditional round cake. I quite like the more rustic look of traybakes and as you can cut them into little squares you're not as likely to over indulge as you are with a slab of cake. What I love about this recipe (and many of the others in the book) is that it uses the all-in-one method, simply add all your ingredients to a bowl and then beat until blended. Perfect. The recipe is a traditional sponge made with light muscovado sugar instead of caster and with the addition of coffee essence (I made my own using 2tsp coffee with 2tbs water) and chopped walnut.
Anyway, back to the traybake! There are a few different variations of this cake in Mary Berry's book but I chose the traybake because I think they are often easier to make cut and transport than a traditional round cake. I quite like the more rustic look of traybakes and as you can cut them into little squares you're not as likely to over indulge as you are with a slab of cake. What I love about this recipe (and many of the others in the book) is that it uses the all-in-one method, simply add all your ingredients to a bowl and then beat until blended. Perfect. The recipe is a traditional sponge made with light muscovado sugar instead of caster and with the addition of coffee essence (I made my own using 2tsp coffee with 2tbs water) and chopped walnut.
Once the cake had been baked I whipped up a coffee flavoured buttercream which I smothered over the surface and then I decorated with some more chopped walnuts. It really is such a simple recipe and yet so effective. I've only just started to like walnuts as I'm a huge carrot cake fan but this is the first time I've actually bake with them. My only downfall was that they did mostly sink to the bottom of the cake so next time I need to cut them up a bit smaller!
You'll have noticed by now that this is a particularly photo heavy post simply because the cake looked so delicious that I couldn't help taking lots of photos of it! Just writing this post I want run to the shop and stock up on ingredients so I can bake another one!
I think this cake is best enjoyed with a cup of tea of coffee. Help yourself to a little square, two if you're feeling indulgent and relax with a book too. It is also great for sharing as you can pop as many pieces as you like into a tin without the need for a huge cake carrier or cutting slices. Traybake are also great for parties as they tend to go further than cakes due to the larger surface area and you can get away with slicing them up into more bitesize chunks.
Overall I highly recommend this cake. It is delicious, sweet but not sickly and the coffee taste isn't too strong or at all bitter thanks to the buttercream. For those that aren't keen on walnut they can be omitted completely or they are easy enough to pick out, particularly as mine were in fairly big pieces! I also received lots of compliments on my sponge as I was kind enough to share, it really is too big of a cake to eat alone!
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