Easy Coffee and Walnut Traybake Cake

Coffee and Walnut Traybake Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan/ gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease and line a traybake pan (33 by 23cm / 13 by 9ins).
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar thoroughly, until the mixture starts to look a little bit paler.
3. Add in one egg at a time and stir until each egg is completely mixed in before adding the next one.
4. Add in half the flour and stir gently until just combined. Add in the remaining flour and, again, stir gently until the flour is just combined.
5. Add in the roughly chopped walnuts and the 4 tablespoons of strong black coffee and stir just enough to ensure the walnuts are evenly distributed.
6. Tip the mixture into the lined traybake pan. Smooth over the surface with the back of your wooden spoon.
7. Put the traybake into your preheated oven for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, remove from the oven and check to see if it’s done using a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean, it is cooked. If the skewer is covered in batter, return to the oven for a further 3 minutes and test again. Repeat if necessary, until the skewer comes out clean. (See Note 2)
8. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack (See Note 3) and allow to cool completely. This should take approximately 1 hour.

Icing and Decoration

1. Don’t try and ice the traybake until it is completely cold!
2. Put the softened butter and sieved icing sugar in a bowl and beat together until smooth. Add in the 2 tablespoons of strong black coffee and beat again until evenly coloured.
3. Using a knife, smooth the icing over the top of the cake as evenly as possible. (It doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect!) Finally, scatter over the finely chopped walnuts.