Coffee Walnut Blondies

These are a very 'adult' taste, with strong coffee, dark chocolate and slightly bitter walnuts, in a fudgy, yet crisp sponge.  Incredibly quick and simple to make, and I knocked this batch up to take to my friend, Tom von Kaenel this afternoon.  Tom is going to be cycling from coast to coast in the USA later this year to raise money for US and UK veterans - check out the Sea2Sea website to read more and find how you can get involved.  Anyway, back to the baked goodies!  The recipe is, appropriately enough, in US cup measures.  You need a stick of butter (about 120g), 1 cup of soft light brown sugar, 1 large egg, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons of espresso or strong coffee powder, 1 cup of plain flour + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup of walnuts, chopped, and 1 cup of dark chocolate, 70% cocoa content if possible (I used Green and Black's Espresso Dark Chocolate to ramp up the coffee-ness).  Heat the oven to 170C, grease and line with parchment a 20cm square brownie pan.  Now, simply melt the butter, mix with the sugar in a bowl, then add the egg, vanilla and coffee and stir to combine.  Then, using a metal spoon, fold the other ingredients in - it will become quite a stiff batter.  Try not to overmix.  Plop it into the prepared tin and spread out, using a palette knife or back of the spoon.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and just beginning to shrink from the sides of the tin - don't overbake it, you want it a little squidgy inside.  Allow to cool a little in the tin, lift out using the paper, and cut into squares - you should get 16 of them or thereabouts.

Cappuccino Cupcakes

This is a variation on the Hummingbird Bakery's Espresso Cupcakes, with the coffee flavour toned down a little.  The recipe is essentially the same as the vanilla cupcakes posted last week, with a couple of teaspoons of good instant coffee dissolved in the milk for the sponge and in the milk for the buttercream frosting.  I piped the topping in the rose pattern I now love so much.  Honestly, at the moment, if you stand still in my flat, you are likely to have a rosette of buttercream piped on you, I am that obsessed with doing this!  Anyway, these will make a nice treat for a fundraiser at work on Monday.  I shall finish them off with a chocolate-covered coffee bean at the last minute, along with a dusting of cocoa.  I have just received the Hummingbird Cake Days book, and I can't recommend it enough.

Coffee and Walnut Cake [#177]

As Nigel says, this is SOOOOO much better than a bought cake. Using his now familiar variation on a pound cake recipe (usually 175g each of buttter, sugar and flour with 3 eggs) these cakes from Nigel are always reliable. I made this in a loaf tin rather than as two round sponges, as in my memory, coffee and walnut cake with buttercream icing was always a loaf. I had planned on taking the remainder into work, but Hubby's face dropped, so it will be eaten during the week - I, of course, won't touch another slice.......... ;o) yeah, right!