Mary’s frosted walnut layer cake

Again with the theme of trying every technical challenge from the Bake Off, I had to try Mary's Walnut cake. I've always loved a coffee and walnut cake but don't think I had ever tried just a walnut cake and especially not one with this marshmellowy type frosting. It was actually a nice change - still very moist with an unusualfrosting, which was maybe more gritty than it should have been!

For any of you who had the misfortune of missing this particular episode, many a contestant struggled to make the frosting smooth and without lumps. I tried too, and like the others, failed miserably and I didn't know why.

After watching Mary's masterclass I then saw what I was doing wrong. When making the icing you need to ensure that the sugar has dissolved or partially dissolved in the water in the bowl over the pan of hot water before whisking in the egg whites and cream of tartar. Otherwise you could end up whisking until the icing is thick but the sugar hasn't been able to dissolve and has left the texture grainy. However I am yet to try this so I am just going by what happened to me and how I saw Mary do it!

1 large cake |less than 30 minutes prep time | 30 minutes to 1 hour cooking time

Ingredients

For the sponges

225g self-raising flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

100g walnuts, finely chopped

225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

225g caster sugar

4 large free-range eggs, beaten

For the caramelised walnuts

100g caster sugar

10 walnut halves

For the buttercream

125g butter, softened

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

250g icing sugar

For the boiled icing

2 large egg whites

350g caster sugar

¼ tsp cream of tartar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Grease 3 x 20cm/8in sandwich tins and line the base of each tin with baking parchment.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder and walnuts together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs a little at a time.

3. Fold in the flour mixture using a large metal spoon. Divide the mixture equally between the 3 tins and level the surfaces.

4. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the cakes are golden-brown and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

5. For the caramelised walnuts, tip the sugar and 2 tablespoons water into a pan and heat over a low heat until the sugar begins to melt. Increase the heat and cook the caramel to a dark golden colour (CAUTION: boiling sugar is extremely hot - no seriously it is. Handle very carefully). Remove from the heat, add the walnut halves and swirl to coat in the caramel. Transfer the walnut halves to a silicon sheet and leave to set.

6. For the buttercream, put the butter, vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon of the milk and half the icing sugar in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining icing sugar. Pour in the rest of the milk, if needed to make the buttercream the right consistency.

7. Spread half of the buttercream over one of the cooled sponges and place the second sponge on top. Spread the remaining buttercream over the second sponge and top with the third sponge.

8. For the boiled icing, measure the sugar and 4 tablespoons water into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of hot water and heat to dissolve most or at least some of the sugar. Then add the measured egg whites and cream of tartar and whisk for 8-10 minutes until thick.

9. Working quickly (the icing sets rapidly), cover the top and sides of the cake with the icing, swirling the icing to form softened peaks. Leave to set in a cool place, but not in the fridge. Decorate with the caramelised walnuts.

#Caramel #Walnuts #Nuts #Marshmellow #Icing #Meringue #Food #Cake #Photography