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Home » Vegan Recipes » Vegan Baking Recipes » Recipe: Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake

Recipe: Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake

January 19, 2018

Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake
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This decadent vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake is easy to make, and a real showstopper. Light and nutty sponge layers filled with fluffy coffee buttercream.

Mmmmm…. cake alert!  I find it hard to resist the temptation to make a slightly-oversized triple layer cake from time to time, and I’m gradually working my way through vegan-ising all the Great British favourites.  My Ultimate Vegan Victoria Sponge is one of the most popular recipes on the blog, and if you’re looking for a failsafe rich fruit cake, my Ultimate Vegan Christmas Cake recipe is not far behind, (I’ve just had an e-mail from a reader who is using it as her wedding cake, isn’t that lovely?!).

And today I bring you… the Ultimate Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake.  This one is a keeper, I promise.  The coffee buttercream is incredibly creamy and light, and the dark, nutty sponge has just the right level of coffee to be a strong flavour without turning bitter.

Vegan Coffee Cake

I made mine a triple-layer because I like BIG cakes with lots of buttercream(!), but if you only have two tins you could either bake two cakes first then the third afterwards, or else make just 2 larger cakes and either use them as they are, or slice them in half to make 4 thinner layers, (oh the decadence!).

This is just the sort of showstopper to casually bring in to the office to share with anyone who has passed comment on your veganism recently, (“so do you just eat a lot of salad then?” – you know the ones!).

Can I Freeze my Vegan Coffee Cake?

Yes! The coffee sponges themselves freeze very well so you can make them ahead of time, (or even batch-cook two at once!). Pop a sheet of greaseproof paper or baking parchment between each layer then wrap the whole lot tightly in foil.

When you need to serve the cake you can just defrost. make the buttercream and layer it up – it is almost impossible to tell that it isn’t freshly baked!


Vegan in 15 by Kate Ford

Vegan in 15 Cookbook

There are plenty of similarly quick and easy recipes in my new book, ‘Vegan in 15‘*.

Hop over to Amazon for a look. Thanks for your support!

*Affiliate links


Reader Testimonials

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I just wanted to express my appreciation for your wonderful recipe! I made this cake yesterday and was so happy with how it turned out! This cake will now be a regular feature in our household. Lovely recipe, thanks again!!!” Priyam

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Just made this today, my first attempt at making a cake and omg, its amazing! Im so proud to have done this. It’s so so good! Thank you! I’ll certainly be bookmarking your website and trying many more! 😁” Leigh

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Great cake – have used this recipe a few times (was turning into a post Parkrun classic – now is just a classic )🥇 Not many complaints – the only one being ‘where’s my second slice gone!’” John

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Brilliant recipe… this really worked well, came out perfectly, looked good, tasted delicious, best vegan coffee cake I’ve made. Thank you” Jules

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “The cake is absolutely delicious! Perfect texture and sweetness and so nice and simple to make. Thank you for the recipe and building my confidence as a baker!” Antonia


Vegan Coffee Cake Recipe
Vegan Coffee Cake - this light and moist vegan coffee & walnut cake is easy to make and totally delicious!

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I love hearing from you! Do send me pictures of your very own vegan coffee cake on:

tagging me @thevegspace or using the hashtag #thevegspace to show me how you got on!

And if you have tried this recipe, please do leave a star rating and comment below which is so helpful for other readers wanting to try the recipe. 👇🏼

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Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake

Ultimate Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake

Kate Ford | The Veg Space
This decadent triple-layer vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake is easy to make, and a real showstopper. Light and nutty sponge layers filled with fluffy coffee buttercream.
4.78 from 22 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 1 hr
Course Cake
Cuisine British
Servings 16 people
Calories 626 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Cake:

  • 6 tbsp instant coffee (mixed with 3 tbsp boiling water)
  • 600 g self-raising flour
  • 360 g caster sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 600 ml soya milk
  • 240 ml rapeseed oil (or other flavourless oil)
  • 200 g walnuts (use two thirds chopped in the cake batter, and the remaining one third finely chopped for decoration)

For the Buttercream:

  • 3 tbsp instant coffee (mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp boiling water)
  • 250 g dairy-free margarine (at room temperature)
  • 640 g icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp dairy-free single cream (soya or oat)

Instructions
 

For the Cake:

  • Mix the instant coffee and boiling water to a paste and leave to cool.
  • Preheat the oven to 180ºC (fan) / 350ºF / Gas Mark 4.  Grease and line three 23cm / 9 inch cake tins with a circle of baking parchment or greaseproof paper, (slightly smaller or larger tins will be fine!). (If you only have two tins, you could either make two larger layers, or bake two cakes first then clean and re-line one of the tins to bake the third).
  • In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, caster sugar and baking powder).  In a jug, mix the wet ingredients (milk, oil and cooled coffee mixture), then add these to the dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined, then bang the bowl on the work surface to stop the raising agents getting to work too soon.
  • Stir in the chopped walnuts, then divide the mixture evenly between the three tins.  Tap each tin firmly on the work surface, then bake for 18-22 minutes until an inserted skewer or knife comes out clean.  
  • Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, remove the baking parchment and leave to cool completely.  Ideally, it is best to leave the fully cooled cakes in an airtight tin or container overnight, to layer with buttercream the following day, (this helps the cakes to soften and stops a crust forming), but if you don’t have time, just make sure they are completely cool throughout before starting to layer and decorate them.

For the Buttercream:

  • Mix the instant coffee and boiling water to a paste and leave to cool.
  • In a food mixer or large bowl with electric whisk/mixer, mix the margarine and icing sugar until fully combined, then add the coffee mixture, salt and cream, and whisk until light and fluffy.
  • Roughly divide the buttercream into four in the bowl, and spread a quarter over the bottom layer of the cake.  Place the middle layer on top, then spread another quarter over it.  Finally, put the top layer in place and spread all the remaining buttercream over the top.  Finish with the remaining chopped walnuts.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 626kcalCarbohydrates: 97.3gProtein: 8.6gFat: 23.2gSaturated Fat: 1.6gSodium: 98mgPotassium: 251mgFiber: 3.7gSugar: 63.5gCalcium: 64mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

.I’m linking this recipe with CookBlogShare hosted this week by Hijacked by Twins.

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Filed Under: Vegan Baking Recipes, Vegan Recipes Tagged With: cake

About Kate Ford

Hi, I'm Kate. The Veg Space is a food blog packed with easy vegan comfort food recipes. Click on About Me to find out more or Recipes to get cooking!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says

    January 23, 2018 at 10:50 am

    Oh wow this looks amazing! I love coffee and walnut cake and this one looks and sounds out of this world! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x

    Reply
  2. Veggy Malta says

    January 29, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    Two things I love.. coffee and walnuts .. and you put them in one scrumptious cake 🙂 awesome

    Reply
  3. Kathryn Brown says

    February 7, 2018 at 2:48 pm

    Hi Kate,

    Thank you for sharing best recipes. I love coffee, any food made with coffee is my favorite choice. While reading this article, water came to my tongue. I’ll definitely make this cake. Thanks again.

    Reply
    • thevegspace says

      February 7, 2018 at 2:56 pm

      That’s great, thanks Kathryn x

      Reply
  4. brYony says

    March 3, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    Would this work with oat milk do you think/have you tried? Thanks

    Reply
    • thevegspace says

      March 20, 2018 at 11:27 am

      I haven’t tried Bryony, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work – please let me know how it turns out if you give it a go! Thanks, Kate x

      Reply
      • Sudheera Koduru says

        November 1, 2019 at 11:35 pm

        Hello! I gave it a go with oat milk and it came out lovely. Thanks for the recipe! ❤️

        Reply
    • Carolyn Morgan says

      February 9, 2020 at 6:34 am

      I used oat milk and it worked and tasted lovely

      Reply
  5. Heather James says

    March 11, 2018 at 6:06 pm

    Delicious cake!!! Only problem I’ve had is that the icing split 🙁 Anyone else had this issue?

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      September 29, 2018 at 9:05 am

      If buttercream splits add more sifted icing sugar and beat thoroughly. Too much water based flavouring can make it split too

      Reply
  6. Sophie says

    March 14, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    Thank you so much for this recipe!! I made it and it came out beautifully, though I think I will maybe halve the buttercream ingredients next time as I was left with a lot left over, though only did 2 layers instead of 3 so might need it all next time! Long story short, there WILL be a next time, because this was fricken delicious. I made it for mother’s day and my whole family (none of them vegan), couldn’t get enough of it. Sophie

    Reply
  7. Sophie says

    March 14, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    Ooh one thing actually – my buttercream split slightly and I couldn’t get it to come together again no matter how much I whisked. What would you recommend? Thanks again!

    Reply
    • thevegspace says

      March 20, 2018 at 11:52 am

      Hi Sophie, sorry to hear about the buttercream – that’s usually a problem of a bit too much liquid, so try adding some more icing sugar next time until it comes back together. All margarines are different and some contain much more water than others, so that can be quite common. Hope it tasted good anyway! Kate x

      Reply
  8. Charlie says

    April 29, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    Made this and it was great. Added extra baking powder because I only had plain flour, and reduced the sugar by a little to suit my tastes (90g). Also didn’t bother dissolving the coffee, and used powdered coffee (Azera) instead. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  9. Lottie says

    June 13, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Can I use wholemeal self raising baking powder?

    Reply
    • thevegspace says

      June 13, 2018 at 6:57 pm

      Yes that should work fine – the texture will be a bit different, not as fine, but it should still rise OK.

      Reply
  10. Ana says

    July 19, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    Fab cake! Made it this morning – icing was a little watery but tasted amazing, thank you!

    Reply
  11. Sarina Tester says

    August 5, 2018 at 11:46 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I was asked to do a vegan wedding cake and thought I was so out of my depth until I found your website. It was the biggest hit! And by far the best cakes I’ve ever made. I made the coffee as the first tier and your carrot as your second tier. Thank you so much for having a recipe that doesn’t use apple cider vinegar.

    Reply
  12. Stu says

    October 20, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    Thanks Kate, smashed it ! I added a twist on mine and made it a 3 squared layer with coffee cream and thin slice strawberries on bottom 2 layers, but fully covered in coffee cream and walnuts.. also no cream substitute, so just stuck to nutlex spread, icing sugar, coffee and walnuts. loved to send you a picture.

    Reply
  13. Sandra says

    April 14, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    Made this cake for my son in laws birthday and it was amazing, very soft and light and the easiest cake I have ever made. Everyone loved it vegans and non vegans alike.

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      April 27, 2019 at 6:40 pm

      That’s so great to hear – thanks Sandra! One of my favourites. Kx

      Reply
  14. Nelly says

    September 20, 2019 at 8:26 am

    Does the cake really only need 20 mins? It’s the first ive seen this!

    Reply
  15. MG says

    October 19, 2019 at 2:11 pm

    I’ve just made this cake but haven’t assembled it yet. It looks and smells amazing. I don’t have three 9 inch tins so I used two. I expected to have to cook it a little longer because of this but found that I had to cook it for twice the recommended time 40 mins. I reduced the heat slightly after 20 mins to prevent the top from burning. I’ll post again after tasting!

    Reply
  16. KP says

    December 19, 2019 at 3:51 pm

    First time baking with no experience at all and it came out great, so many compliments! Thank you so much. Only thing was the buttercream was quite thin, is this due to it being vegan or can it be thickened?

    Reply
  17. Alice says

    January 10, 2020 at 3:44 pm

    For cupcakes… Could I make a smaller batch or 12? Will this require less mixture?

    Reply
  18. Carolyn Morgan says

    February 9, 2020 at 6:36 am

    First vegan cake I have made and it was so easy to do and the cake was delicious.

    Reply
  19. Claire stephens says

    February 15, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    Can I make with freshly ground coffee? How much ground coffee to water would you bre? Or will this be too watery? And cause the cake to not rise? I don’t have any instant in at the moment!

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      February 16, 2020 at 3:45 pm

      You could make very strong coffee from fresh grounds but please make sure you filter out the grounds before putting it in the cake or it will be really gritty! Use 6tbsp of the filtered coffee – but do make it as strong as you can, it needs to be almost syrupy it is so strong, to give enough flavour to the cake. Would really recommend instant if possible, as it has such a concentrated flavour.

      Reply
  20. Maggie says

    February 27, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    This cake came out awesome it’s delicious. It was huge though. I think next time I will only make the two tiers. The icing is so yummy. Thank you for sharinf

    Reply
  21. Martina terminella says

    March 26, 2020 at 7:51 am

    This cake is BOMB!
    Thank you!

    Reply
  22. Abigail says

    April 5, 2020 at 1:31 pm

    I made this cake and I can honestly say it is one of the best vegan cake recipes I have ever made! My whole family love it and I will definitely be making this again! Love it!

    Reply
  23. Jules says

    May 7, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Brilliant recipie.. this really worked well, came out perfectly, looked good, tasted delicious, best vegan coffee cake I’ve made. Thank you

    Reply
  24. Sylvia Soh says

    June 5, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    Hello! Thank you for sharing with us the recipe! Could I ask if I could replace self-raising flour with plain flour?

    Thank you!

    Reply
  25. Helen Didsbury says

    June 14, 2020 at 9:15 am

    I made this cake both vegan and gluten-free for my son and his fiancée, and it was delicious! So easy to follow the recipe and we all really enjoyed it. it’s ten out of ten from me!

    Reply
  26. John says

    June 19, 2020 at 4:42 pm

    Great cake – have used this recipe a few times ( was turning into a post Parkrun classic – now is just a classic )🥇 Not many complaints – the only one being ‘where’s my second slice gone!’

    Reply
    • Antonia says

      October 20, 2020 at 11:02 am

      The cake is absolutely delicious! Perfect texture and sweetness and so nice and simple to make. I replaced the caster sugar with light brown sugar and reduced 100ml of soy milk. I also added a teaspoon of baking soda and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Thank you for the recipe and building my confidence as a baker! 🙂

      Reply
  27. Leigh Taylor says

    October 27, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    Just made this today, my first attempt at making a cake and omg, its amazing! Im so proud to have done this Its so so good! Thank you! Ill certaintly be bookmarking your wesbite and trying many more! 😁

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      October 28, 2020 at 11:49 am

      That’s so great to hear, thanks Leigh! X

      Reply
  28. Priyam Atter says

    October 28, 2020 at 10:21 am

    Hello
    I just wanted to express my appreciation for your wonderful recipe! I made this cake yesterday as a trial run for a colleagues leaving do (it’s her favourite flavour of cake) and was so happy with how the cake turned out! This cake will now be a regular feature in our household. Lovely recipe, thanks again!!!

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      October 28, 2020 at 11:49 am

      Fantastic! Glad to hear it – thanks Priyam x

      Reply
  29. Juanita says

    November 5, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    This recipe looks amazing. I’m planning to make it in the coming days for a birthday. I only have two 8 inch tins so was wondering if it’ll be okay if I bake two layers and then the third later? I’m just worried that the third layer may not rise/bake properly if left to sit out while the others are baking. I’m happy to make only two layers instead but I’d be worried about them being too thick to cook properly. If you could advise the best option for two 8 inch cake tins that would be wonderful! Thank you 🙂

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      November 6, 2020 at 4:27 pm

      Hi Juanita, yes you’re right that leaving out the last bit of mixture will mean it won’t rise as much as the rest. I would make two big sponges – if they start to catch at the edges before they are cooked through just cover them in foil. You could slice each one in half for a real showstopper!! Xx

      Reply
  30. Alice says

    November 28, 2020 at 3:14 pm

    So easy to make, absolutely delicious my whole family loved it and none of us are Vegan! Wouldn’t have been able to tell it was vegan, better than some non vegan coffee cakes I’ve had 🙂

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      November 30, 2020 at 8:35 pm

      That’s so great to hear, thanks Alice.

      Reply
  31. Sks says

    December 2, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    I did two layers and it turned out fab! Thanks for the recipe

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      December 3, 2020 at 9:58 am

      Brilliant! Thanks x

      Reply
  32. Jan says

    December 3, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    Delicious coffee & walnut cake – really pleased with the recipe and how the cake came out. Just made the one iced tier this time around, but will definitely be making it again! 🍰🙂

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      December 4, 2020 at 3:52 pm

      That’s great to hear, thanks Jan! X

      Reply
  33. Naomi says

    January 14, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    I’m not sure if it’s just different ovens, but I followed the recipe to the letter and it’s looking doubtful. The cakes were raw at 20mins. I cooked them for 33 mins in total and when I turned them out after cooling, they melted into the wire racks. I did think the batter was quite runny when I was prepping it 🙁

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      January 16, 2021 at 8:29 am

      Oh no, so sorry to hear this Naomi. You’ll see from all the comments above that lots of readers have had great success with the recipe so it does sound like an oven issue to me. Have you tried using an oven thermometer to test how hot your oven actually is? If they were raw at 20 minutes there is definitely something wrong, what a shame.

      Reply
  34. Carla Mae Siman says

    January 16, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    Made this cake and it was so delish!!; Love your recipes. Tried the carrot cake as well and was very moist and truly yummy! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kate Ford says

      January 18, 2021 at 7:56 am

      That’s so lovely to hear, thanks Carla! X

      Reply

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