Coffee and Walnut Traybake (Vegan)

Coffee cake on the board cut into portions.

5 from 2 votes

Coffee and Walnut Traybake (Vegan)

This Coffee and Walnut Traybake style cake ticks all the boxes. It's delicious, easy to make (with foolproof, super easy icing) and it's vegan! You definitely can have it all!

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword coffee and walnut traybake

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings servings

Calories 450kcal

Author Jo Allison

Equipment

Ingredients

Cake

225 g self-raising flour see notes
1 tablespoon cornflour (corn starch) see notes
½ teaspoon baking powder
75 g walnuts roughly chopped
225 g brown sugar
150 ml neutral oil see notes
2 tablespoon instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tablespoon freshly boiled water
200 g plain vegan yogurt see notes
50 ml plant milk oat or soya

Icing

100 g vegan block butter see notes
240 g icing sugar sieved
1.5 tablespoon instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tablespoon freshly boiled water
2 tablespoon vegan cream I like Alpro single cream
more walnuts to top the cake with chopped or halves as per preference

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Cake

Preheat the oven to 160C(fan)/320F/Gas Mark3 and prepare baking pan by lining it with some baking paper.
Roughly chop your walnuts.
75 g walnuts
Prepare strong coffee by dissolving 2 tablespoons of instant coffee granules in 1 tablespoon freshly boiled water and let it cool slightly.
2 tablespoon instant coffee granules
Put all dry ingredients (flour, corn flour and baking powder) in a large bowl and give them a mix with a whisk. Alternatively, you can sieve them in.
225 g self-raising flour, 1 tablespoon cornflour (corn starch), ½ teaspoon baking powder
In a large jug or another bowl whisk together brown sugar, oil, strong coffee, yogurt and plant milk. You want nice uniform mixture.
225 g brown sugar, 150 ml neutral oil, 200 g plain vegan yogurt, 50 ml plant milk
Next, pour wet mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Add chopped walnuts towards the end of mixing and fold them gently into the batter.
There will be lumps in the cake batter but don't overmix it. As long as there is no visible specs of flour it's good.
Pour cake batter into prepared, lined cake tin and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.
Once ready, take the cake out of the oven and leave it in a tin for a few minutes before taking it out onto cooling rack to cool completely.
75 g walnuts

Icing

While cake is in the oven, prepare your icing.
Sieve icing sugar into a bowl and prepare strong coffee by dissolving 1.5 tablespoon instant coffee granules in 1 tablespoon of just boiled water.
240 g icing sugar, 1.5 tablespoon instant coffee granules
Melt vegan butter in a pan or microwave and pour over icing sugar, following quickly with cream and strong coffee.
Whisk it all really well with small whisk (or wooden spoon) until the mixture is nice and smooth and without any visible lumps.
At this point the icing will be quite runny but once in the fridge it will set to the perfect consistency.
The icing prepared this way can be left in the fridge until the cake is ready and cool.
100 g vegan block butter, 240 g icing sugar, 2 tablespoon vegan cream, 1.5 tablespoon instant coffee granules
When you're ready to ice the traybake, take the icing out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes as initially it might be a little stiff.
Give it a quick mix and spread over the top of the cake.
Sprinkle some chopped walnuts, walnut halves over the icing and enjoy.
more walnuts to top the cake with

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate, per serving of cake with icing but without extra walnuts on top and based on 12 servings. This information should be treated as a rough guideline only.
Plain/all-purpose flour + baking powder can be used instead of self-raising flour. For details see: Ingredients above.
Corn flour can be substituted with potato starch or some plain or self-raising flour.
Any neutral oil can be used. I like cold-pressed rapeseed or light olive oil.
Plain vegan soya yogurt is best for this cake as coconut one might add coconut flavour.
I like to use salted vegan block butter in my icing (Flora Plant) as a bit of salt works well in a rather sweet icing.

TIPS:

For the best results when baking use kitchen scales when weighing out the ingredients.

If like me you are a fan of traybakes, invest in good quality springform cake tin. I use and highly recommend this rectangular springform 28x18cm one. It makes getting your cakes out a breeze.

Preheat the oven ahead of time so that it's ready the moment your cake batter is in the baking tin. You want to get your cake in the oven as soon as you can.

Be gentle when mixing the batter, you don't want to overmix it.

Some lumps in the batter are fine, don't try to smooth them out or you will overmix it. As long as there are no visible specs of flour you are fine.

My easy icing can be made in advance and kept in the fridge until needed. Remember to take it out of the fridge 5-10 minutes before spreading to soften slightly.

Experiment with your toppings. I used chopped walnuts together with some cacao nibs as coffee and chocolate goes together so well. You could also use some dark chocolate covered coffee beans.

Nutrition