Coffee Walnut Loaf Cake

Our answer

Nigella's Coffee And Walnut Layer Cake (from [KITCHEN) is a coffee-flavoured sponge that is enriched with ground walnuts. It is a 2-layer 20cm (8-inch) cake and in theory this amount of batter is a little too much for a 900g/2-pound loaf pan. You would probably need a ¾ quantity of the batter for this size tin, or make a full quantity, fill the tin to ⅔ full and bake the rest of the batter as cupcakes.

However there is a problem with this type of cake as a loaf cake as the cake crumb is is more aerated, soft and tender than the usual loaf cake and will crumble more as it is cut. So our preference would be to make this cake as a sandwich cake. Loaf cakes also need a lower oven temperature and longer baking time, so the oven would need to be reduced to 170°C/150°C Fan/325°F and the baking time is likely to be 40-50 minutes, or until the cake is risen, firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. However, as we have not tried the cake in this form we are unable to guarantee the results.