Walnut cake is a simple, wholesome dessert with a soft, slightly moist texture thanks to the large quantity of walnuts and the almost total absence of flour in the batter.
Making walnut cake is very easy! Start from a base of cubed butter, sugar, sour cream and egg yolks, then add the ground walnuts and a little flour and finally fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
If you want to make this rustic-flavored cake even more indulgent, you can coat it with melted chocolate once cooled. I prefer it simply dusted with powdered sugar. Often goodness lies in simple things!
If you like walnut desserts, try these other recipes of mine:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 10 slices
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups walnuts (ground (about 6.7 oz / 190 g))
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour ((about 40 g))
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter (soft (about 110 g))
- 1/2 + 2 cup + tbsp granulated sugar ((about 120 g))
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 2 pinches salt
- 6 tbsp sour cream ((about 90 g / 3/8 cup))
- 3 eggs
- as needed powdered sugar
Steps
To prepare the walnut cake, preheat the oven to 356°F (conventional) and line the bottom of a 9-inch (22 cm) round cake pan with parchment paper.
Mix the ground walnuts with the flour and baking powder and set aside.
In a bowl, beat the soft butter (cut into cubes) together with the granulated sugar, vanilla sugar and salt until pale and fluffy. Then add the sour cream and continue beating with the electric whisk until smooth.
Add the egg yolks and set the egg whites aside in another bowl for now.
Work the butter and yolk mixture, then add the walnut-and-flour mixture and continue beating until evenly combined.
Wash and dry the beaters and whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter using a spatula with gentle upward motions.
Transfer the batter to the cake pan and bake at 356°F for about 30 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick.
Remove from the oven, wait 15 minutes, then release the walnut cake from the pan and let it cool on a rack.
Serve the walnut cake dusted with powdered sugar.
