{Coffee & Walnut Cake}

I love coffee, whenever we leave the house I am scouting for a good coffee, if we go out for icecream I always choose coffee and I love coffee cake, so this one was for me! Some people might think its a bit daggy but I think its retro cool and was really surprised that the kids loved it too, lucky for them I was happy to share as that is a constant mantra at our place with two kids under four, the cake itself is not very sweet but the icing is so its nicely balanced and coffee and walnuts are a match made in heaven, yum.

...the cake

125g butter softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 heaped tbsp instant coffee

1 tbsp hot water

2 eggs

1 cup sr flour

1/4 cup custard powder

1/3 cup milk

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

...icing

50g softened butter

1 tsp instant coffee

2 tsp hot water

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180 and brush your bundt tin with melted butter. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla till pale, add in the coffee which has been dissolved in the hot water, give it a mix then add in the eggs one at a time (it will look curdled at this point), sift in half the dry ingredients, mix gently, then add in the milk the balance of the dry plus the walnuts and mix till just combined. Pour into your prepared bundt tin and bake for 20 - 25 minutes till a skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin for ten minutes then tip onto a rack to cool completely.

For the icing dissolve the coffee in the hot water again then whisk or whizz everything together till pale, ice once completely cool.