If you’re looking for a moist, fluffy coffee cake that is bursting with coffee flavour, then this recipe is it! Soft coffee cake layers are sandwiched between the most divine white chocolate and coffee whipped ganache frosting, and lightly candied walnuts – YUM!
How to make coffee cake
This recipe has three different elements, but they’re all easy to put together!
The whipped ganache frosting is the star of this cake so I would highly recommend making it. It’ll be best to start on the ganache first before making the cake as it needs time to cool in the fridge before whipping (instructions for making the ganache are after the coffee cake).
Coffee cake
For the coffee cake, begin by preheating your oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 4 on recipe card below if you don’t have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release). Set aside for now.
In a bowl, sift together flour, cornflour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and instant coffee powder. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and soft brown sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine – see note 2 on recipe card below), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Add in your vanilla, vinegar and half a cup of the buttermilk, and mix until well combined. The batter may look curdled but that’s okay. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3 on recipe card below). Your batter should be nice and smooth and no longer curdled.
Divide the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once done, let the cakes cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting.
White chocolate and coffee whipped ganache frosting
Chop up your chocolate into small pieces (no need to do this if using chocolate callets) and place in a heat proof bowl.
Place the cream in a saucepan over a low-medium heat and heat it up until it begins to gently bubble. Once it’s gently bubbling, immediately take it off the heat (you don’t want to overheat the cream) and pour it over the chocolate. Add in the coffee at this point too but no need to mix it.
Allow the chocolate/cream mixture to sit for 5 minutes untouched. After 5 minutes, stir with a spatula and then using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Keep the immersion blender at the bottom of the bowl to prevent air bubbles getting into the ganache.
Pour the ganache into a wide baking tray/dish (this will allow it to cool quicker), and cover it with cling wrap so that it’s touching the top of the ganache. This will prevent a skin from forming as it cools. Place it in the fridge for at least a few hours to allow it to thicken up slightly and become very cold. You can also do this step the day beforehand.
Once ready, pour the ganache into a bowl and whip until you reach semi-stiff peaks. It comes together quite quickly so be careful not to overwhip the cream.
Lightly candied walnuts
Place a saucepan over a medium heat and add in sugar, butter and cinnamon, stirring occasionally.
Once the sugar is melted and begins to gently bubble, add in the walnuts and stir so that the walnuts are evenly coated with the butter/sugar mixture. Once coated immediately take it off the heat and pour it onto a tray. Use a spatula or spoon to separate the walnuts.
Allow the walnuts to cool and harden (about 5 minutes or so).
How to decorate this coffee cake
OPTIONAL: Begin by trimming off the top of the cake layers so that they’re nice and flat. These cake layers bake up quite flat so you should only need to trim off a very small amount.
Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the whipped ganache frosting on top. Evenly distribute half of the candied walnuts on top of the cream.
Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more whipped ganache. I like to do a little bit of piping on the top (I used a 1A piping tip for this cake). Finish off by evenly distributing the remaining walnuts on top. Enjoy!
IMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Coffee Cake
- 2½ cups (320 g) flour - regular all purpose (see note 1 if you want to use cake flour)
- ⅓ cup (40 g) cornflour - also known as cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- 4 tbsp (15 g) instant coffee powder - I use a fine powdered coffee
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ½ cup (105 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- 1½ cups (300 g) soft brown sugar - firmly packed (see note 6)
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1¼ tbsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1½ cups (337 g) buttermilk - room temperature, see note 5 if using a homemade buttermilk substitute
Whipped White Chocolate & Coffee Ganache Frosting
- 1 cup (180 g) white chocolate - couverture preferred, otherwise regular eating chocolate. Try not to use compound white chocolate. Milk chocolate can be used too.
- 3 cups (675 g) cream - minimum fat percentage of 34%
- 1½ tbsp instant coffee powder - I use a fine powdered coffee
Lightly Candied Walnuts
- 2 tbsp (30 g) soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp (14 g) unsalted butter
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (100 g) walnuts - roughly chopped or halved
Instructions
- IMPORTANT: For this recipe I would highly recommend using gram measurements, especially for the flour for accurate results. It has a high fat/liquid ratio so slight adjustments to the quantities can throw off the balance of the cake 🙂
- The whipped ganache frosting is the star of this cake so I would highly recommend making it! It'll be best to start on the ganache first before making the cake as it needs time to cool in the fridge before whipping (instructions for making the ganache are after the coffee cake).
Coffee Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 4 if you don't have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release). Set aside.
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and instant coffee powder. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and soft brown sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in your vanilla, vinegar and half a cup of the buttermilk, and mix until well combined. The batter may look curdled but that's okay. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3). Your batter should be nice and smooth and no longer curdled (see note 7 if your batter is still curdled).
- Divide the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once done, let the cakes cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting.
Whipped White Chocolate & Coffee Ganache
- Chop up your chocolate into small pieces (no need to do this if using chocolate callets) and place in a heat proof bowl.
- Place the cream in a saucepan over a low-medium heat and heat it up until it begins to gently bubble. Once it's gently bubbling, immediately take it off the heat (you don't want to overheat the cream) and pour it over the chocolate. Add in the coffee at this point too but no need to mix it.
- Allow the chocolate/cream mixture to sit for 5 minutes untouched. After 5 minutes, stir with a spatula and then using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Keep the immersion blender at the bottom of the bowl to prevent air bubbles getting into the ganache.
- Pour the ganache into a wide baking tray/dish (this will allow it to cool quicker), and cover it with cling wrap so that it's touching the top of the ganache. This will prevent a skin from forming as it cools. Place it in the fridge for at least a few hours to allow it to thicken up slightly and become very cold. Ideally you want to leave it for over 6+ hours (overnight is best). You can also do this step the day beforehand.
- Once ready, pour the ganache into a bowl and whip until you reach semi-stiff peaks. It comes together quite quickly so be careful not to overwhip the cream.
Lightly Candied Walnuts
- Place a saucepan over a medium heat and add in sugar, butter and cinnamon, stirring occasionally.
- Once the sugar is melted and begins to gently bubble, add in the walnuts and stir so that the walnuts are evenly coated with the butter/sugar mixture. Once coated immediately take it off the heat and pour it onto a tray. Use a spatula or spoon to separate the walnuts.
- Allow the walnuts to cool and harden (about 5 minutes or so).
Assembly
- OPTIONAL: Begin by trimming off the top of the cake layers so that they're nice and flat. These cake layers bake up quite flat so you should only need to trim off a very small amount.
- Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the whipped ganache frosting on top. Evenly distribute half of the candied walnuts on top of the cream.
- Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more whipped ganache. I like to do a little bit of piping on the top (I used a 1A piping tip for this cake). Finish off by evenly distributing the remaining walnuts on top. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
195 Comments
Believe it or not – it was so amazing that I had to make another batch for my family who loved them. Because I only have freeze dried coffee (it’s not a fine powder) – the only thing I did different was add the coffee to a small amount of the buttermilk which helped to dissolve it. In the original batch – the coffee granules hadn’t dissolved because I didn’t have the fine powder coffee. Also – I used coffee extract instead of vanilla extract to give it an extra coffee hit.
Came out perfect.
Love the recipe.
Thank you so much. Jzk.
Yay! So so happy to hear you and your family loved the recipe Hina 😀
Great thinking by you to dissolve the freeze dried coffee in the buttermilk!
Really appreciate the wonderful feedback 🙂
Made the cake and it is A-MAZING! I’m going to try every other recipe by MK.
I used to go to ‘Sally’s baking addiction’ for recipes but not anymore. This cake is a game-changer.
I’m only half-way in and I already think this cake will be AWESOME.
The frosting tastes AMAZING and the cakes smell great. Can’t wait for the finished product.
Will give update once done.
Aww yay! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out Hina 😀
Hi MK
I don’t have an immersion blender. Could the ganache be done with a food processor or mixer? Or by hand?
Thanks
Hi Katy! 🙂 A food processor should do the trick. You could do it by hand as well, but if its not emulsified properly it could lead to problems when whipping it once its set, hence why I recommend using an electric mixer 🙂
Enjoy!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks amazing! Quick question, does the cake have to be stored in the refrigerator after assembling or can it be left out?
Hi Minz! 🙂 Due to the frosting, it does need to be kept refrigerated in an airtight container (to prevent it from drying out), but it is best served at room temp so let it come to room temp before serving 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I love the ganache, use it in so many of the other cakes that I make!
However, if i wanted to turn it into another flavor, like lemon, how would you suggest I go about that? would it be better to use a lemon oil or lemon juice? Cause i really want to be able to make whipped ganache a regular frosting for all my cakes since whenever i make it at home everyone loves it.
Please help!! i really want to be able to make this ganache in other flavors!!!
So so happy to hear you’re loving the ganache Sumaiya 😀
For other flavors like lemon, you could add some lemon extract and juice to the ganache and use an immersion blender to make it smooth. You could easily do this with other flavors too and experiment to see what you like 🙂
I would recommend trying small portions before making a big batch just to make sure you have the flavor right. Hope that helps 😀
Hi,
Can you use ground coffee or does it need to be instant powdered coffee?
Thanks!
Hi Jen! I haven’t tried using ground coffee myself though my gut feeling is that it may be best not to use it otherwise you may be left with little coffee sediments throughout the cake as I believe ground coffee doesn’t dissolve in the same way instant coffee does. Hope that helps and if you do decide to give it a go would love to hear how it goes 🙂
Thank you for sharing your recipes! So far I’ve made your carrot cake and it went down very well! Tomorrow I want to make this coffee cake but cannot get buttermilk where I live. So do you recommend that I make my own with milk + lemon but use less as per your suggestion OR shall I use yoghurt/watered down yogurt. I have either regular plain or greek! What do you say? 😀 Thanks in advance for your expert opinion 😉
Hi Fifi! So so happy to hear you enjoyed the carrot cake 😀
Ooohh good question! I think either option would work, but maybe making your own will be a bit better incase the yoghurt changes the flavor of the cake a little too much 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe 😀
Hi,
Can I use all oil instead of butter and oil? Thanks!
Hi Maria! 🙂 Unfortunately this recipe relies on the creaming process to achieve its texture, which requires butter. So if you substitute the butter with oil, you may not achieve the best results. Hope that helps 🙂
OMG SO GOOD! I made this cake into cupcakes for my friends (had to skip the candied pecans because I was short for time) (note: for cupcakes, I decreased the bake time to 20mins). My friends INHALED the cupcakes! They loved it so much, the icing tastes like the most delicious, creamy cup of coffee and cupcakes came out so good! They were even better the next day! Thanks so much for the recipe!! Can’t wait to make it again (this time with the pecans!)
Awesome!! So so happy to hear you and your friends loved the recipe Shanza 😀
Really appreciate the wonderful feedback and I’m so excited for you to try the candied pecans next time! 🙂