Coffee and walnut cake used to be our staple birthday cake when Nick and I were dating. Every year. Till we had kids. Somewhere along the way we lost big pockets of time to bake each other cakes. Then the kids got older and the way we eat changed. Call it peer pressure, mass commercialism or merely experimental but you cannot escape making wiser/healthier eating choices. And with good reason. When you reduce the amount of sugar in your diet or practice moderation in your cooking or go meat free a few times a week or resort to gluten free baking in the weekends, something happens - you start feeling amazing. On the inside. And then you get addicted to that feeling of clarity and lightness. And it starts becoming a way of life.
I don't believe I have baked a coffee cake since this ghastly offering on the blog years ago (crap photos, great taste!). So amidst boxes of packed books and dismantled furniture (we are about to begin our long awaited kitchen renovations) I took the time out to create a beautiful light and nutty coffee and walnut cake that was amped with amaranth goodness and just a hint of sweetness to balance the rich coffee flavour.
Amaranth is gluten free. The flour is milled from the amaranth seed that dates back over 8000 years to the Aztecs. They apparently had their healthy eating sorted out with quinoa and amaranth and what nots - peer pressure or not! Amaranth flour has a delightfully subtle nutty and sweet flavour. I use the stoneground Bob's Red Mill brand. For this recipe I also used macadamia oil by the lovely people at Brookfarm and Nespresso's newest limited edition Colombian inspired Santander coffee that has toasted bread notes. See my notes for substitutions.
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AMARANTH COFFEE AND WALNUT CAKE
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 1/2 cups amaranth flour
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup strong espresso coffee
- 1/2 cup macadamia oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup crushed walnuts + extra to decorate
- 1 tablespoon milk
- for maple cream
- 1 cup thickened cream
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180C. Grease and line an 8 inch round springform cake tin with baking paper. To make espresso coffee, dissolve 2 tablespoons instant coffee in 1/2 cup boiling water (I used my Nespresso machine to make half a cup of strong espresso using two Santander capsules).
- Place almond meal, amaranth flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon. Add coffee, oil, eggs, vanilla and milk. Beat with an electric blender until fluffy and smooth. Stir through the walnuts gently.
- Spoon batter into the prepared tin. Smooth the top. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 40 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the tin.
- Place ingredients for maple cream in a clean bowl. Whisk with an electric beater for 8 to 10 minutes until the cream thickens and becomes a spreadable consistency. Using an icing spatula, spread the cream over the cooled cake. Decorate with walnut halves and serve.
Notes
This ratio is perfect, my household loves the resulting texture and taste. I'm looking forward to experimenting with different oils (although the macadamia oil is an absolute treat, and healthy too) and liquids (earl grey tea + orange zest or lemon verbena tea + a little thyme). Thank you for a delicious gf cake option that's NOT overly sweet or textured like cardboard!
Of note: I forgot to blend the chopped nuts in to the batter until after adding to the pan (didn't have walnuts on hand, used pecans instead). So I sprinkled them on top and baked like that. The nuts toasted up very nicely, and offered a very pleasant layer of crunch between the cake and the maple cream. I'll probably continue to make this mistake!
Made this tonight for my brothers birthday. It was delicious. I used avocado oil and Brazil nuts. Thank you.
Wonderful! So glad you loved it. Happy birthday to your brother. x
Hi , m glad I found this interesting yet simple recipe.. m gonna try this tonite.. may I know, if there is a replacement for 'Almond meal'. Thank you..
Regards,
Sushma
Sushma, if you can't access almond meal, you could make your own by processing whole almonds to an almost flour like consistency in your processor/blender. Alternatively, if you are not fussed about this being gluten free, you could sub with regular flour or any flour of your choice. x
Thank you Sneh.
Hello 🙂 Yesterday I googled for a recipe using amaranth, and yours looked the best. I'm SO PLEASED to have found you, as we made your cake this morning and the six of us have already eaten half of that delicious cake! (Little changes I made: I only used 1/4 cup sugar and added some stevia, plus since we are now dairy-free I just added a touch more macadamia oil in place of the milk. When it came out of the oven (I baked it on 160C fan bake for 35 minutes), I drizzled 3 Tbsp kahlua over the top for our special 'wedding anniversary' treat today 🙂 Since I'd run out of coconut cream I just made a basic frosting with coconut oil, espresso, palm shortening and a few other bits and pieces.) Again, thank you for a lovely recipe which I'm sure we'll use again! Out of interest, how do you pronounce your name?
Chantelle that is wonderful to hear. So glad you enjoyed the cake recipe. My name is pronounced as "Sn-aye" 🙂
Oh my this looks incredible! I absolutely love coffee baked goods (the only issue is I find it's never coffee-ish enough, and too sweet for a straight black coffee drinker!) Plus wholefood baking is the bees-knees, I must try this soon! Do you think it's possible to use buckwheat or spelt flour instead of amaranth?
I've been looking for amaranth lately. Do you know where I might find it?
Saw the behind-the-scenes set-up. Sneh, you're so good at taking pics of food!
OMG this cake looks delicious.
I just started GF baking and I've tried all the other flours but not yet amarath. I noticed that you don't have any xanthan gum or binder in there. Are the eggs sufficient for this? Or does the amarath have binding power like, say, tapioca flour?
Lovely post. I haven't tried coffee cake or used amaranth flour. I'm intrigued! Looks delicious and I like that it isn't overly sweet. Will have to give this a try!
Never heard of Amaranth flour before.
Guess what I'm out to find tonight? 🙂
i have been seeing amaranth flour a lot lately..will have to get it sometime soon.
Another 'bake immediately' recipe, thanks as always Sneh…in a burst of experimenting with gluten free recipes I bought a bag of amaranth flour which has yet to be opened - I have no excuse now, this recipe looks delicious. I love the maple cream too, I think that will appear on my carrot cake this winter...
Looks wonderful but the cakes I make since having kids have changed not to healthier but plainer. Anything with nuts or adult flavors is out unless my husband and I want to eat it all ourselves.
Hi Sneh, love the idea of using these heritage grains, I bet it imparts a great flavor.
I've never heard of amaranth flour before, but it sounds like a great healthier alternative.
I haven't tried amaranth flour yet but now I must. Lovely coffee cake!
Oh how I want to try this! I've never experimented with Amaranth before, but the way you describe it as nutty and slightly sweet sounds so appealing to me! Such a gorgeous, simple presentation. Lovely post.
Gorgeous cake Sneh! I can't believe we are in baking sync again. I couldn't help but smile when I saw your beautiful cake in my instagram feed and see you'd used amaranth flour. I'm yet to bake a cake with amaranth flour, but it's definitely going to happen soon.
I also have sentimental thoughts with coffee cake ( it was actually the first birthday cake that I could remember having). Once again you have made it possible to get a bit more nutrition in to cake; stunning!
A wonderful idea! I really have to get my hands on amarath flour.
Cheers,
Rosa