MUNCH RATING: 3/5
Coffee and walnut is quite a classic cake combination, so I thought I’d add some dates too as I really like the sticky toffee taste they create.
- Makes: 24 cupcakes (fairy size cases)
- Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
- You will need: 2 cupcake tins lined with paper cases
- Oven shelf: Upper middle
- Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients for the cakes:
- 225g (8oz) dried dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 225ml hot water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons instant coffee
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 125g (4½ oz) butter, softened (I used Stork)
- 50g (2oz) dark muscovado sugar
- 150g (5oz) light muscovado sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 225g (8oz) self raising flour
- 100g (3½ oz) walnuts, chopped
Ingredients for the icing:
- 100g (3½ oz) icing sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee, dissolved in 2 Tablespoons hot water
- Walnut halves to decorate
- Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
- Put the dates in a medium sized bowl and pour over the hot water.
- Stir in the vanilla extract, instant coffee and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy (easiest in a food processor or with an electric mixer).
- Add the eggs, one at a time, with a tablespoon of flour with each egg, beating well between each addition.
- Add the remaining flour and mix in well.
- Add the wet date mixture and beat in well.
- Then stir in the nuts (if using a food processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl before stirring in the nuts as you don’t want to chop them up anymore).
- Fill the 24 cake cases with the mixture – they will be quite full – and bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Leave in the tins to cool whilst you make the icing.
- Icing: mix the icing sugar with enough of the dissolved coffee to make a fairly runny icing – add the coffee gradually to get the right consistency. Drizzle or spread on top of the cakes and decorate with walnuts is desired.
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