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.
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!).
❄️ Freezing
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!
⭐️ 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
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📖 Recipe
Ultimate Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake
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 ½ tbsp boiling water)
- 250 g dairy-free margarine (at room temperature)
- 640 g icing sugar
- ½ 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.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Nutrition
Free 4-Week Vegan Meal Plan
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Wow, this cake is my new favourite. Can't believe how easy it was. Wonderful to make a cake that everyone raved about and also included our vegan co-worker.
That's so great to hear - thanks Julie! X
I made this cake before and it was AMAZING. Just wondering if I can substitute the oil for a vegan butter?
Thanks
Hi Claire, I haven't tried it with vegan butter BUT I think it would work fine - you would have to alter the method and cream the butter and sugar to begin with. In fact, I wonder if you might be better off using my Victoria Sponge recipe and adding coffee essence (something like Camp coffee), or else substituting in the coffee and water to replace a bit of the soya milk? Let me know how it goes however you try it!
I made this the other day and was so pleased with it. The sponge consistency was perfect and it tasted incredible. The buttercream was a bit too loose and I'd have preferred a bit more coffee in it personally, but I'll definitely be making this again It certainly did last long in our house😂
Uses this recipe the other day and the cake turned amazing and tasted so yummy! You wouldn’t even know it’s vegan, the sponge cake is so light and moist. Directions are easy to follow as well! Can’t wait to try some more vegan cake recipes from here.
That's so great to hear - thanks Anne-Marie.
Hey hey - about to do this recipe for the second time!
The buttercream is hands down the best vegan buttercream recipe I've done; it came out a smidge "dry" so added a tiny bit more vegan cream and it was perfect.
I only had two tins, so like an earlier commenter, baked them for about 35 - 40 mins, and they were pretty good.
One thing I wanted to check - the temp is supposed to be 180 in a fan oven, right? I did mine at 160 in a fan oven, as I wanted to stop them doming, but it didn't work very well. Do you have any advice on how to stop the cakes doming?
Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Olly, I find vegan cakes do tend to dome a bit as they have more raising agent than traditional cakes. Cooking lower and slower will help so do turn down to 160 or lower. But it is hard to get a completely flat top. I usually put mine on the cooling rack upside-down which flattens the top, and sometimes actually sandwich them with the top layer upside down, to get a really flat top. Depends how you are decorating them. Glad you've enjoyed the recipe and thanks for the feedback!
Love Love Love this recipe. It really does make you wonder why the hell we ever needed dairy... now we really do not need it at all. These cakes are delicious vegan or not vegan. I'm yet to do the icing as I tend to ice the cakes too soon so I'm tackling this in the afternoon to avoid any runny messes. I only have 2 cake tins so added a bout 850g of mixture or so to each one and then had enough to make up 6 muffins!! (Muffins took 30 mins and the cakes took over 40mins until the skewer came out clean. (I know this is down to so much mixture being in each tin and if divided by 3 it would have took less time. I also turned the oven down after 30 mins to 160 fan as I didn't want them to burn. (I've already eaten one of the cupcakes whilst warm and they were lovely and "moist" haha. Very very delicious and I'm sure with the buttercream the bitterness from the coffee will be balanced out perfectly! I'm going to try and make a lot of your recipes now!! Also I used Oat Milk instead of soya and it worked just the same!
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!
That's so lovely to hear, thanks Carla! X
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 🙁
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.
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! 🍰🙂
That's great to hear, thanks Jan! X
I did two layers and it turned out fab! Thanks for the recipe
Brilliant! Thanks x
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 🙂
That's so great to hear, thanks Alice.
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 🙂
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
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!!!
Fantastic! Glad to hear it - thanks Priyam x
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! 😁
That's so great to hear, thanks Leigh! X
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!’
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! 🙂
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!
Hello! Thank you for sharing with us the recipe! Could I ask if I could replace self-raising flour with plain flour?
Thank you!
Brilliant recipie.. this really worked well, came out perfectly, looked good, tasted delicious, best vegan coffee cake I've made. Thank you
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!
This cake is BOMB!
Thank you!