Coffee & Walnut Mini Cakes

Light, fluffy, sweet, and bitter with creamy mascarpone…need I say more?

If you do not have mini bundt shaped tins, you can use a 12-hole standard muffin tin or friand pan instead. If you don’t have self-raising flour, use plain/cake flour with baking powder instead (2 teaspoons/10ml baking powder for every 1 cup/150g of flour). Use decaffeinated coffee if you like.

Makes 12 mini cakes

COFFEE & WALNUT CAKE BATTER

eggs, 4

brown sugar, 220g (250ml or 1 cup)

espresso/strong coffee, 60ml (1/4 cup) - warm

instant coffee granules, 15ml (1 tablespoon)

milk, 45ml (3 tablespoons)

oil (your preferred neutral flavour oil, I like using grapeseed oil), 180ml (3/4 cup)

self-raising flour, 225g (1 + 1/2 cup)

fine salt, 1.25ml (1/4 teaspoon)

walnut halves or pieces, 90g (250ml or 1 cup)

ESPRESSO GLAZE

icing sugar, 165g (250ml or 1 cup)

espresso/strong coffee, 30ml (2 tablespoons)

To start, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and grease a 12-hole mini bundt tin (or silicone mini cake pan or 12-hole muffin tin).

Separate the eggs, placing the egg yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat together until pale in colour.

Dissolve the instant coffee in the warm espresso/coffee, then add this to the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Add the milk and oil and combine using a hand whisk.

Add the self-raising flour and salt to this mixture and whisk by hand until the mixture is uniform.

In a clean, dry mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites on a high speed until stiff peaks.

Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter mixture using a large metal spoon or spatula (at first just a little to loosen the mixture, then gently fold in the rest).

Roughly chop the walnuts, then fold them into the batter.

Divide the cake batter among the pan holes and bake until golden (approximately 20 - 30 minutes but will depend on your mini cake sizes) and a skewer inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean.

Remove the mini cakes from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar and espresso until smooth (if too runny, add extra icing sugar).

Drizzle the coffee glaze over the top of each mini cake.

To make glazing easier, you can place the cooled mini cakes on a wire rack with a baking tray beneath. If you prefer a sweeter finish, you can glaze the mini cakes twice.

Serve with mascarpone and an extra walnut halve on top.