This decadent vegan coffee and walnut cake is easy to make, and a real showstopper. Light and nutty sponge layers filled with fluffy coffee buttercream.
🍴Why you will love this recipe
This deliciously light and moist vegan coffee and walnut cake is so very easy to make. You don't need a fancy food mixer or other equipment, just a bowl and a spatula!
There are no weird ingredients in this cake - no vinegar, flax seeds or egg replacers, and it turns out brilliantly every time, just read the reviews at the bottom of the post.
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. Follow my top tips for best results. If you have time, keeping the cooled cakes in an airtight tin overnight before adding the buttercream makes a huge difference for an extra-soft and moist sponge.
Jump to:
📝 What you need
Instant Coffee This cake has just the right amount of coffee to have a good coffee kick to it without being bitter. You can use any instant coffee granules or powder, or if you prefer you can swap in liquid coffee essence (like Camp Coffee) in which case you don't need to mix it with water.
Walnuts I chop these by hand rather than using a mini-chopper, so that they don't become chopped too finely.
Oil Use a flavourless oil like rapeseed or sunflower oil. Avoid anything with a stronger flavour like olive or coconut oil.
👩🏽🍳 How to make your Vegan Coffee Cake
For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Mix the coffee granules and water and set aside to cool. Roughly chop the walnuts.
Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. In a separate jug, mix the oil, soya milk and coffee mixture.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Stir through the walnuts. Divide the mixture between two tins.
Make the buttercream. When the cakes are completely cool, layer with buttercream and scatter with chopped walnuts.
⭐️ 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
🔪 Top Tips & FAQs
Work quickly once you have combined the wet and dry ingredients. The raising agent will get to work straight away creating tiny bubbles, and you want these to form in the oven, not on your worktop!
If you can, store the cooled cakes overnight in an airtight tin before icing. This process draws moisture through the cakes and makes them deliciously soft and moist.
Frequently Asked Questions
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!
An instant coffee powder is easiest to mix to a paste with boiling water, though granules work fine too. If you prefer, you can use a coffee essence (like Camp Coffee) which doesn't need to be mixed with water.
This cake is lovely and moist, so will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight tin or container.
Yes absolutely. The quantities in the recipe make 20-22 fairly large cupcakes, so you might need to adjust these. The simplest way to do this is to go to 'Print Recipe' and adjust the number of slices. Adjusting to 6 slices will give you 12 cupcakes.
🍽 If you liked that...
.... you might also enjoy these vegan recipes from The Veg Space:
Loved this recipe? ⭐️ Leave a star rating below! 📸 Snap a photo of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram, tagging me @thevegspace or #thevegspace 📩 And get all my latest recipes in a weekly e-mail by subscribing to my newsletter.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Coffee and Walnut Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 tablespoon instant coffee powder or granules mixed with 2 tablespoon boiling water
- 450 g self-raising flour
- 270 g caster sugar
- 2.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 450 ml soya milk
- 150 ml rapeseed oil (or other flavourless oil)
- 100 g walnuts
For the Buttercream:
- 2 tablespoon instant coffee powder or granules mixed with 1 tablespoon boiling water
- 200 g dairy-free block margarine at room temperature
- 400 g icing sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 tablespoon dairy-free single cream optional
- 50 g walnuts
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 two 23cm / 9 inch cake tins with a circle of baking parchment or greaseproof paper.
- Roughly chop the walnuts and set aside.
- 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 smooth.
- Stir through the chopped walnuts, then divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Tap each tin firmly on the work surface to remove small bubbles, 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 dairy-free margarine and icing sugar until fully combined, then add the coffee mixture, salt and cream, and whisk until light and fluffy.
- Spread about a third of the buttercream over the bottom layer of the cake. Put the top layer in place and spread half the remaining buttercream over the top. Pipe the remaining buttercream in small rosettes around the edge of the cake.
- Finely chop the walnuts and scatter over the cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Free 4-Week Vegan Meal Plan
Have you got your hands on a copy of my meal plan yet? If not CLICK here to download a copy of my FREE 4 Week Vegan Meal Plan today!
Please note that all recipes and images on The Veg Space are copyright protected. If you would like to share the recipe, please use the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or copy and paste the recipe, (even if credited to The Veg Space). Many thanks for your understanding
Sabrina says
This recipe was easy to bake but tasted funny didn't rise very much and looked pale even though I cooked it on a higher heat for more time . I did subsitute oat milk instead of soya and didn't use coffe still wouldn't recommend
John Pork says
Peculiar recipe. 450ml of milk?! Came out as a very wet batter and took wayyyy longer to bake, still liquid after 20 mins, resulting in a dense and mountainous mess with thick enough crust and large enough cracks to teach about tectonic plates with. Tasted decent as anything with sugar and coffee would but not my favourite recipe.
Natalie says
This is a great cake recipe, it turned out beautifully, thank you.
Sue Fawcett says
Made this today 4th August. I found the cakes came out a little heavy, though it tasted very good. I would have used less vegan butter maybe 150gm, as there was far too much even after I’d covered the sides as well, very easy recipe to follow
sharron says
Hi
If I want to make as a loaf (2lb Tin), what adjustments would I need to make
Thanks
Nikki says
I’ve only got one tin. Any advice on making one cake & cutting in half?
Ben says
Always better in my experience to make two sequentially, even though it's more time-consuming. Putting a double quantity in one tin will affect rising and alter the optimal baking temperature and time.
Crispy says
yoooo. we have made this 3 times now, once without walnuts and it's been perfect every time! one of the fluffiest vegan recipes I've tried 🙂
Maxine says
I have this baking as I'm typing this question and I'm very much looking forward to having a slice! I'm using a different cream filling and topping though with less sugar in it. You mention keeping the cake in an air tight container but don't say if it should be stored in the fridge?
Akki says
Hi Kate, thank you for this gorgeous cake recipe. I baked it for my Husband's 40th birthday party and it was a big hit! I I added the chocolate chips which definitely gave it that extra oomph as you suggested. The only thing I did wrong was forgot to buy instant coffee powder and had to use freshly ground coffee beans. The coffee flavour in the cake itself was not as strong as I would have liked, but the icing was perfect and had full flavour so it came out really well overall. Thanks again 🙂
Audrey McCarthy says
Wow and wow! Thought the comments were over hyped, how wrong I was. Light, delicious and so easy to make. Better than any other vegan cake I've made or bought. Just going to try same recipe for cupcakes.
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear, thanks Audrey!
Jenn says
Hi, could I adapt the quantities to bake in a 7 inch tin? Also, could I use ground coffee powder (like for a cafetiere), as opposed to instant coffee? Thanks!
Jamie says
Oh my goodness this cake was so delicious! Super moist and such good flavor. I made a couple adjustments which still worked very well. 1) made half of the sugar in the cake brown sugar just because I thought it would be a nice flavor 2) added vanilla because...no explanation needed and 3) cut the recipe in half for just a single layer cake because I was making it just for 2 people.
100% will be making this again!
Kate Ford says
Great tips, thanks Jamie!
Sally says
Recently made this for my son's 24th birthday ( I even used gluten free flour!) - turned out very well 🙂
Kate Ford says
Great to hear it works well with GF flour, thanks Sally!
Kim says
Hi does the milk have to be soya or can I use other, I have intolerance to soy and prefer not to use if possible
Corinne Clark says
I used oat milk and the cake was superb!
Dhanesha Sutaria says
Hey! I have made this recipe twice now however I can't seem to get the coffee flavour to come through - can't taste it at all! I use high quality coffee and the amounts you have specified above. Any tips?
Rachael says
This cake was an absolute triumph! I made it for my daughter-in-law's birthday. It looked great, and tasted delicious! Thank you.😊
Kate Ford says
That's lovely to hear, thanks Rachael!
Crin says
Wow! What a great recipe! Took much longer to cook, but I used smaller tins and, worried they might overflow, I placed them on a baking sheet so they would have taken longer anyway. They didn’t overflow in 21cm tins, btw! Took the cake to work and after loads of positive comments most of it was gone by lunchtime! I recommend that if you use coffee granules, they dissolve better if you grind them to a powder first (have learned this on a different recipe). Also, I completely cool all vegan cakes in the tin before even thinking about moving them, or they are prone to cracking. Stunning. Thank you so much.
Kate Ford says
This is great to hear, thanks so much!
Larhysa Saddul says
Hi,
This recipe sounds delicious I want to make it for.someome who is not necessarily vegan but is eggless and was hoping to use what I already have (semi skimmed milk) instead of soya milk. Do you think it will be the same? How will this effect the cake? Thanks
Kate Ford says
Yes that would work fine - I';ve heard from others who have tried this and it worked out well.
Jo says
I had no idea my fella's favourite cake is coffee and walnut. I'm vegan, he's not...and when I went vegan several years ago, the extended family (sisters, nephews, nieces, new partners, etc) of 11, I was the only one bringing my own food to family events. Now, 5 of us are eating vegan at family events - and my plan is ALWAYS invoking 'food envy'. This, THIS, THIS recipe is amazing!! Did a trial run of cupcakes ahead of my fella's 60th birthday...and it was a HIT! Just fishing the cakes out the oven now....this is going to be his favourite birthday cake ever....and VEGAN!! Thank you so much! x
Kate Ford says
Ah that's so lovely to hear, thanks Jo! X
Enid says
This recipe is amazing! We made it for a non-vegan friend as they requested a coffee and walnut cake, and he loved it. It was so easy to follow and turned out perfectly! The sponge was one of the best we have ever made, and we received so many compliments. Thank you Kate x
Kate Ford says
That's so lovely to hear, thanks Enid! X