Coffee cake is ‘utterly delicious’ and ‘very easy’ to bake in only 40 minutes

Summer has arrived which means it is time to get out your favourite checkered blankets to make the most of the hot weather to have a picnic, party, or some delightful afternoon tea.

Coffee cake is the perfect treat, no matter the occasion, and is incredibly simple to make, but you can impress loved ones by making a dessert fit for television.

Nancy Birtwhistle, a baker who is best known for winning The Great British Bakeoff, has shared her recipe for how to make an incredible coffee cake in no time at all.

On her website, Nancy said: “This cake is utterly delicious, very easy to make and suits walnuts as well as pecan nuts. The light, not-too-sweet Swiss meringue buttercream takes this gorgeous cake to another level.”

It will only take around 10 minutes to prepare this cake and an additional 10 minutes to make the icing before it bakes in the oven roughly for 18 to 20 minutes.

How to make coffee cake fit for The Great British Bakeoff 

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 125g of self-raising flour
• 125g of caster sugar
• 125g of margarine or butter (room temperature)
• 40g finely chopped walnuts or pecans
• Two eggs and one egg yolk (whites will be used for the buttercream)
• One tablespoon of instant coffee granules dissolved in boiling water
• One teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Eight pecan or walnut halves (for decorating)
• Icing sugar (for decorating)

For the buttercream icing:

• One egg white
• 125g of butter (room temperature)
• 70g of light brown sugar or caster sugar
• One and a half tablespoons of instant coffee dissolved in boiling water

Kitchen equipment needed:

• Two six-inch cake tins lined with baking paper

Method

To make the cake:

To begin, cream the soft margarine or butter with the caster sugar until you have a fluffy yellow mixture.

Add the eggs plus the egg yolk one at a time, making sure to mix well between each addition.

Carefully fold in the flour until everything is well combined, then add the chopped nuts, vanilla extract and coffee granules.

Continue to stir slowly until everything is fully mixed, then divide the mixture between two cake tins.

Place in the oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes and bake at 175C (fan) until well risen.

If you have an old oven, Nancy suggests wrapping the top of the cake in tin foil to ensure the surface evenly cooks.

Nancy said: “For an even bake and flat top to your cake wrap a foil strip around the outside to diffuse the heat during baking.”

Once fully baked, take the cakes out of the oven and turn out into cooling trays, then leave until completely cooled.

To make the icing:

Fill a saucepan with one-third water and bring it to a boil. Turn it down to a simmer, place a heatproof bowl over the pan and add the egg white and sugar.

Stir the sugary-eggy mixture until the sugar has fully dissolved and you have a smooth mixture.

Then, whisk together the egg white and sugar until you have a pale, thick mixture which has doubled in size.

Take off the what and continue to whisk until the icing has cooled and feels neither hot nor cold to the touch.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until you have a creamy and thick mixture.

Add the cooled eggy mixture one large spoonful at a time and make sure to mix thoroughly between each spoonful.

When everything is fully incorporated then mix the coffee and water mixture into the icing.

Use this icing to fill in the cake and to decorate. Add six blobs to the top of the cake and secure with the eight walnuts or pecans.

Nancy said: "I tend to put the eight blobs on the top sponge first then use all of the remainder of the cream to sandwich the two cakes together.”

Your delicious coffee cake fit for The Great British Bakeoff tent will now be ready to serve.