Maple walnut cake
About maple walnut cake
Maple walnut cake is a light sponge cake with chopped walnuts and maple syrup, topped with maple-flavoured cream cheese frosting. I love walnuts and maple syrup and always have them at home. In addition to these two favorite ingredients, I used cream cheese that I always have in my fridge. The fluffy maple-flavoured sponge goes well with the creamy topping.
Because of the cream cheese topping you need to store the cake in the refrigerator. Therefore, oil is used instead of butter so that the cake remains soft when it cools. It’s delicious a few hours after making it, but if you leave it for half a day to a day, it will be soft and moist and even more delicious. So I often make it on Saturday night and eat it with my family at tea time on Sunday.
There are some processes. But it’s easy, so please try making it, if you like maple syrup and walnuts. Below are links to the nutrition, health benefits and downsides of walnuts and maple syrup, so read on if you’d like.
Recipe tips
As for walnuts I use roasted walnuts. Finely chop the walnuts and add them to the cake. I chop them finely, but you can chop them coarsely if you like.
This cake uses oil, so it is important to emulsify the egg yolk, maple syrup and oil well. That said, it’s not difficult, just mix well.
Whisk the egg whites and add sugar until stiff peaks form. And if you mix it evenly without crushing the bubbles, it will be a moist and fluffy cake.
If you don’t like walnuts or can’t eat them, you can make it without walnuts and enjoy it as a maple syrup cake.
Maple walnut cake
Equipment
- 1 20cm square cake pan
- 1 Handmixer
- 2 bowls
Ingredients
- 30 gram Roasted walnuts
- 3 Egg yolks
- 100 gram Maple syrup
- 35 gram Vegetable oil
- 3 Egg whites
- 30 gram Fine granulated sugar
- 110 gram Cake flour
- ¾ teaspoon Baking powder
- 200 gram Cream cheese
- 90 gram Maple syrup
- 20~30 ml Fresh cream
- 2 gram Sheet gelatin
- An appropriate amount of Walnuts for decoration (optional)
Instructions
- Preparation: Finely chop the walnuts. Line the the cake pan with a parchment sheet. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Pre-heat the oven to 170C=338F degrees.
- Put 3 egg yolks, 100 grams of maple syrup and 35 grams of vegetable oil in a bowl and mix well with a whisk until emulsified.
- Put the egg whites in another clean bowl and beat with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Add granulated sugar and beat to make a firm meringue.
- Add half of the flour (cake flour and baking powder) to the egg yolk mixture and mix with a whisk.
- Then add half of the meringue and mix with a whisk.
- Add the rest of the flour and chopped walnuts and mix with a rubber spatula until a little flour is still visible. Then, add the remaining meringue and fold evenly with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Drop it 3-4 times from a height of 5-7 cm to remove the air inside. Bake in the oven at 170C=338Fdegrees for about 30-35 minutes. Insert a bamboo skewer in the center. It's OK if it comes out clean. If not, bake for another 5-10 minutes.
- Remove cake with parchment sheet and place on wire rack to cool. Once the cake has cooled completely, make the toppings. Soak the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.
- Put the cream cheese in a bowl and if it is firm, heat it in the microwave to soften it. Use low heat for a short time to prevent it from becoming too soft. Then add maple syrup (90 gram) and fresh cream, and mix well each time with a whisk.Drain the gelatin, put it in a small microwave safe bowl, and heat it in a microwave over low heat to dissolve it. Heat little by little to avoid boiling. When it boils, the topping will not set properly. Add the melted gelatin to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.
- Spread the toppings over the cake. Then chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to overnight. Garnish with walnuts if you like.
Notes
It’s easy and delicious, so please try making it. If you like nuts, I put a link to a cake made with pistachio, so feel free to make that too.
Thank you for reading and Bon Appetit!