Coffee and Walnut cake!

Today I made a coffee and walnut cake, at the request of my brother. I love coffee cake. I'm one of those weird people who hate to drink coffee but I love it in puddings and truffles! 


Here's the recipe. I've just had a slice with a cup of tea and it's delicious.


Ingredients
(For the cake)
225g self raising flour (sieved)
4 large free range eggs, beaten. Allow these to come to room temperature before you use 'em. 
225g golden caster sugar
60 ml espresso coffee ( made as strong as you dare)
225g unsalted butter. Let this soften before you use it. 
140g walnut halves. Bash these up by putting them in a food bag ans whacking them with a rolling pin. Very therapeutic!


For the coffee butter cream


125g unsalted butter, really soft!
150g icing sugar
60ml espresso coffee


To decorate: walnut halves


Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/ 140 fan. Line two round baking tins. 

2.Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy

3. Slowly add the beaten eggs and combine well. Please be slow, you don't want to split the mixture.

4. Add the espresso and the walnuts and mix well.

5. Add the flour, folding in gently.

6. Put half of the mixture in each of your two baking tins.

7. Bake on the middle shelf for around 25-30 minutes, or until you can stick a knife in the centre and it comes out clean.

8. Place on a wire rack & allow to cool.

For the  butter cream.....

1. Beat vigorously together the icing sugar, butter and the espresso liquid. You want it to be thick and smooth so add some more icing sugar if you think you need it.

2. Spread a good generous dollop of butter cream on one of the sponges and spread it well. 

3. Sandwich the other sponge on top of the other.

4. Spread the rest of the butter cream on the top of the cake. I like to leave it looking a bit rough. , but that's just my personal preference.

5. Finally decorate with the walnut halves, arrange them in a circle! 

...and relax. Obviously I think this cake is best enjoyed with a nice cup of tea!

TTFN. 

Anyone for afternoon tea?

So, I turned 23 on 15th June. My other half, Adam thought it would be lovely to treat me to afternoon tea at The London Carriage works in Liverpool, as I've been wanting to go there for years. To me, afternoon tea sounds heavenly as I love drinking tea and eating cake. (who doesn't?!)


We went for afternoon tea on a Sunday afternoon. The London Carriage works serves afternoon tea daily between 3pm-5pm. We were shown to some massive plush sofas and were offered tea or coffee.  I decided to break away from my usual English breakfast tea and opted for Early Grey. The Mr decided on Darjeeling. I'm so glad I chose Earl Grey as I love the zesty tastes and it's definitely a firm favourite of mine now! 


So, we ordered afternoon tea for two, we chose a selection because we like to try lots of different things, but you can opt for a particular sandwich if you prefer. I was amazed when this three tier cake stand arrived at our table! (sorry for the poor quality of the photo, my camera is rubbish, but you get the idea!)


The sandwiches were smoked salmon which pleased me greatly as smoked salmon is easily my favourite food! There was also cheese and coleslaw and egg and water cress. As you'd expect, the sandwiches were served with their crusts removed and cut into delightful finger sized sandwiches! Very elegant! I enjoyed all three of the sandwiches, the smoked salmon was my favourite though. Mr W enjoyed the cheese and coleslaw the best. You could definitely tell that the coleslaw was home made as it tasted really fresh! My only slight criticism with the sandwiches was that there was 9 sandwiches. As we'd ordered it for two people, I'd have liked it if we could have shared the sandwiches out equally.


Next up were the scones. These were absolutely gorgeous! I'm certain they were made with clotted cream as they were very rich. They were served with jam and butter (we thought it was clotted cream!) I could not fault these scones they were buttery and slightly crumbly as I think a good scone should be. If I was to be ULTRA picky, I'd say I'd have liked them to be served with clotted cream not butter, but that's just personal preference.


Finally it was onto the final plate, the adorable little selection of cakes! I thought these were too cute to eat but I still ate them! There were mini lemon tarts, fruit bread and chocolate brownie. There was two of each obviously. I thought it was particularly lovely that the lemon tarts were still warm from the oven! Honestly, the pastry was perfect. Slightly crispy yet rich. It was definitely my favourite of the trio, but then again, lemon desserts are always a winner with me! The fruit bread was probably the weakest of the three, there wasn't enough flavour for me. However, the chocolate brownie was probably one of the best I've eaten, it was really how a brownie should be. Chocolatey, gooey on the indside and crispy on the top. Fabulous. 


In sum, I really enjoyed my afternoon tea at the London Carriageworks, it was very relaxing and was lovely to do something different for a change. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who loves tea and cake, you won't be disappointed. In fact, I left there inspired, I'd love to have a go at creating my own little afternoon tea in my flat. So watch this space. 


Thanks to my lovely boyfriend for treating me to a wonderful afternoon. 


TTFN.