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Walnut Espresso Cake

The sophisticated flavor of this party cake makes it a perfect dinner party dessert.
Servings 9 slices
Prep Time

Ingredients

Syrup:

  • 1 cup Water
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp Orange Juice
  • 1 tsp instant espresso powder
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom

Cake:

  • 2 cup walnuts toasted
  • 1/3 cup cake flour
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 4 tsp instant espresso powder
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 tsp finely grated orange peel
  • 2 tsp cardamom
  • 3/4 tsp Lunds and Byerlys Vietnamese Cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Oil an 8-inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

For the Syrup:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Mix well; bring to a boil and cook 6-8 minutes or until reduced to 1 cup.

For the Cake:

  1. Toast walnuts in a 350 F oven for 4-6 minutes or until fragrant. Pulse in a food processor until coarsely ground. Combine nuts and flour. Pulse until finely ground. Beat eggs, maple syrup, sugar and salt for 5 minutes at high speed. Add espresso powder, vanilla, orange peel, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger and beat until mixture thickens and “ribbons” of batter fall from the beater. Fold in nut mixture. Pour into prepared pan and bake 30-40 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on rack to cool. While warm, spoon 4 tablespoons of syrup over the cake. Cool completely. Insert the tip of a knife between the cake and the pan side and loosen the cake from the pan; remove pan sides.

Tip:

  1. Can be served with whipped cream, crème fraîche or rum raisin ice cream. Pass remaining syrup.