The Walnut Variation: A Cake

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Ingredients

Makes 1 cake
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 10 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 teaspoons espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 5 egg whites
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Instructions

1 _ The night before: Separate eggs and let egg whites sit on the counter overnight, covered with a clean cloth. Pour cream into a saucepan. Split and scrape vanilla bean into the cream and heat until just boiling. Remove from heat and let cool. Cover and chill overnight.

2 _ The next day: Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare a 9 x 12-inch cake pan with buttered parchment. (Alternatively, you can prepare two 9-inch round cake pans.)

3 _ In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until creamy and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

4 _ Whisk together flour, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt. Add mixture to butter and sugar in 3 increments, mixing fully between additions.

5 _ Whisk together egg yolks and milk. Add to batter in 3 increments, incorporating fully each time. Scrape batter into prepared pan.


6 _ In a clean mixing bowl (I wipe down my bowl and whisk attachment with vinegar), whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar and cinnamon and whip to soft peaks.

7 _ Spread the meringue over cake batter, cover with toasted walnuts and bake 35-40 minutes, until the meringue is crackly. Let cake cool completely.

8 _ Meanwhile, remove vanilla bean from cream. Add maple syrup and whip cream to soft peaks. Cut cake in half and place one half on a cake plate, meringue side up. Cover with whipped cream. Top with remaining half, meringue side up. You will end up with a 2-layer square cake from your single-layer rectangular cake. (If you're doing this in two round cake pans, just top one with the other.) Let sit 1-2 hours.

9 _ To go completely over-the-top, serve with a dark chocolate sauce punched up with a few dashes of walnut bitters.

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