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.
191 Comments
Fantastic recipe but I think you’ve put the wrong measure for coffee in the cake mix. 4tbsp does not equal 15 grams! Now I’ve made a very strong coffee cake for my son’s birthday 🤦🏻♂️
Thanks Tom! 🙂
With the coffee, I always recommend using the gram measurements for accuracy, but with the large, light granules I used, it came to about 4g per tablespoon. Coffee weights can definitely vary depending on the brand and type though! I hope your son enjoyed the recipe and had a wonderful birthday 🙂
Hey MK,
How is this cake different from the coffee sponge cake recipe you’ve got. I see that this cake requires more ingredients than the other.
I love coffee and walnut cake, first time I have made it , your recipe was excellent, easy instructions to follow and the most perfect soft, fluffy sponge, delicious !!
Just found that the ganache wasn’t very sweet though.
Awesome! So glad you loved the recipe Karen 😀
Yes the ganache isn’t overly sweet, it’s more like a light whipped cream, but you can totally add more white chocolate for a sweeter frosting 🙂
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback!
Hey Mariam big fan of your recipies! loved the idea of the whipped ganache!
unfortunately 34% fat cream can be tough to find in my country
could you kindly suggest ratios for making the ganache with 25% fat cream?
would increasing the amount of white chocolate or adding butter work well?
also would you have any suggestions to make this with milk chocolate compound instead of overture chocolate?
I’m baking this cake for my finances 27th birthday! hope to hear from you soon
Hi Shubha! So glad you’re loving the recipes 😀
Hmmm I haven’t tried making ganache with a cream that has a lower fat percentage, but it may work okay. Any cream that can be whipped into a whipped cream should work fine – do you have something like that available to you?
Yes increasing the amount of white chocolate and adding some butter should help, just keep in mind it will make the frosting sweeter 🙂
The method if using compound chocolate will be the same. Hope that helps and so sorry if my response wasn’t in time for the birthday!
Absolutely perfect ! Not too sweet either ! Thank you ☺️
Yay! So glad you loved the coffee cake Mich 😀
Hi, im just wondering, could i use wipping cream for the ganache?
Hi Sara! 🙂
Any cream that has a fat percetage above 34% should work fine. You just want to make sure it will be able to whip to a thick, stable consistency 🙂
Can I use normal brown sugar as my brand isn’t the soft brown sugar?
Hi Anosha! 🙂
I haven’t tried with regular brown sugar myself, but I think it should work okay for this recipe. Would love to hear how it goes if you decide to try it out 🙂
Thanks so much for the recipe! The website’s tools made it easy to scale the recipe. I used an egg yolk when the recipe called for 0.5 eggs. I also took your suggestion and used a reduced amount of homemade buttermilk. It turned out perfectly, and everyone enjoyed it.
You’re so welcome Bianca! So glad you loved the recipe 😀
Ahh yess it can be a bit tricky when you need 0.5 eggs. A quick tip that I use is whisking a whole egg together and then using half of that as half of an egg 🙂
So glad the reduced homemade buttermilk tip worked well too Bianca – really appreciate the wonderful feedback!
Thank you so much for this great, 5 star recipe! I’ve been trialling coffee cake recipes for my son’s 40th birthday. My husband, baking competition-winning friends and about 20 workmates all chose your recipe as the best. Now I’m baking the final cake for his party tomorrow. I’m expecting success again. Thank you!!
Aww yay! This makes me so happy Lorraine 😀
What an honor for this recipe to be chosen as the best by your friends and family! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback and I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating your son’s 40th birthday 🙂
This looks delicious, could I bake same recipe in 4inch pans please? Thank you
Thanks Val! 🙂
Yes you could half the recipe and distribute the batter into four 4 inch cake tins.
I wouldn’t recommend putting too much batter into one cake tin, otherwise the cake may not rise/bake well.
If making 1x this recipe, then you will want to distribute the batter between eight 4 inch cake tins 🙂
You will need to reduce the cook time, so just keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t overbake. Avoid checking them too early though, as this can cause them to sink in the middle.
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!