Boozy coffee and walnut cake is the perfect party sponge- serve at afternoon tea, cake sales and birthdays
Ingredients
For the cake mix
- 200g caster sugar
- 200g softened butter
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 200g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 15 walnut halves
- 2 heaped tbsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water
For the filling
- 500g pot mascarpone
- 85g light muscovado sugar
- 4 tbsp Tia Maria
- a few toasted walnut halves, for decoration
Method
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Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Butter two 20cm sandwich tins and line with non-stick baking paper. Toast the walnut halves in the oven for 10 mins. Reserve 10 and chop the rest. Dissolve the instant coffee in 1 tbsp of boiling water, cool and add the basic cake mix (see recipe for Classic Victoria sponge, right), instead of the milk.
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For the filling, beat the mascarpone with the light muscovado sugar and Tia Maria until smooth. Sandwich the cooled cakes with a third of the filling and the chopped walnuts.
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Cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the filling and decorate the top with the toasted walnut halves.