High Altitude One Layer Coffee and Walnut Cake
A high altitude recipe for a one layer coffee and walnut cake, with rich and nutty brown butter and coffee buttercream.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ½ tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
Buttercream
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tbsp meringue powder
- 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
- walnut halves, for decorating
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, or spray it with non-stick baking spray.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until nutty, golden brown milk solids form at the bottom of the pan. This process might take about 10 minutes. First the butter will hiss and splatter as the water evaporates, then as it quiets down, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter. This means the butter is done. Immediately remove from the heat, and scrape the butter, including the brown milk solids, into a large bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk the espresso powder into the butter, then add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla and milk, and whisk until combined. If some of the butter solidifies into small pieces, this is nothing to worry about.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, then whisk until everything is evenly distributed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, whisking until moistened, then fold in the chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 30-32 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched, or a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Set the pan on a wire rack, covered with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and vanilla extract for 1 minute, until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing on low until combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and espresso powder until the coffee is dissolved, then add it to the buttercream. Whip the buttercream on medium high speed for 4-5 minutes, until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down several times while mixing. Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 1 more minute.
- Spread the buttercream onto the cooled cake, swirling it with an offset spatula. Cut the cake into 16 squares (for small servings) or 9 squares for large servings, and top each square of cake with a walnut.
Notes
Recipe Variations:
- For a two-layer 6-inch cake, bake the cake batter in two 6-inch cake pans.
- For a larger 8-inch cake, double the cake recipe, and bake in two 8-inch cake pans. Double the buttercream.
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