If there is one cake that has marked my childhood, it's walnut cake. And that is not a surprise, because this area is very abundant in walnut trees, so they were naturally used for many treats, not just cakes.
I still remember picking them off the ground in my paternal grandparents' yard, and how dirty my little hands would get from them, but also how endlessly fun it was to collect them. To this day I enjoy walnut-picking as well as collecting chestnuts. Some tiny joys remain with us forever.
I have also written in detail about my love-hate relationship with the said walnut cake, because somehow nobody could make it right, or so I thought. Turns out the cake was just dry and I never liked that. So with a bit of dedication and persistence, I found ways to keep the walnut layers soft and moist, while making them stable enough to carry the filling.
And speaking of the filings, this is my absolute number one filling. That is something I have been adamant about since I was a child. A simple custard made of flour and soy milk, generously sweetened, and blended with vegan butter while still warm. Honestly, there is no better filling in all the land.
The only caveat I have, if you haven't worked with this type of cake, is that it truly is filled with warm filling. That is the goal, really. You work quickly, fill the cake, and then let it set in the refrigerator. Also, at one point it might look like the custard is not absorbing the butter, and that is fine, just keep folding and mixing, and it will turn out glossy and wonderful.
Ingredients
For the walnut cake layers
150 grams plain flour150 grams granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
60 grams toasted walnuts, ground
25 millilitres sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
200 millilitres carbonated water
For the old-fashioned caramel filling
350 millilitres soy milk, divided150 grams granulated sugar
60 grams plain flour, sifted
75 grams vegan block butter
1 heaping teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Preparation
Start with the walnut cake. Let the oven preheat to 180°C and line a round cake pan (16 cm) with baking parchment, bottom and sides. Set aside.
Take a large bowl and sift in the flour, salt, and the baking powder. Add in the sugar and ground walnuts, and whisk very well. Pour in the wet ingredients in no particular order, and whisk until only incorporated.
Overmixing will make the cake tough and will cause tunneling.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake immediately, in a preheated oven, at 180°C, for about 40 minutes. Check it early, definitely, even around the 35-minute mark, so it stays soft. As soon as a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, the cake is done. Remove from the oven and let it cool down in the pan completely.
My cake took exactly 39 minutes to be baked to perfection.
When the cake is cool to the touch, make the filling. Add the sugar into a heavy saucepan, shake it slightly so it sets in an even layer, and place the pan over medium heat. Divide the milk into two parts, and heat one of those until boiling, and reserve. Whisk the second one with the flour and vanilla, and set aside. Cook the sugar until deeply amber in colour and very fragrant, making sure it does not burn, as it will be bitter.
As soon as you are happy with the caramelisation, carefully pour in the boiling soy milk and be aware that it will bubble. Once settled, let the caramel melt into the boiling milk, until completely dissolved. When you are sure there aren't any remaining hard pieces of caramel left, pour in the milk and flour mixture, and stir vigorously until it starts to boil. Once boiling, start stirring constantly, and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until it resembles a glossy custard.
You cannot overmix this custard, so make sure to cook the flour well.
Remove the cooked custard off the heat and let it cool down for a minute. While waiting, dice the vegan block butter into small pieces, and start adding them into the custard, mixing and folding with a spatula or whisking with a wire whisk constantly. And as soon as the filling has absorbed all the vegan butter, proceed to assemble the cake.
Level the cooled cake if needed, and slice it into four thin layers. Reserve about two tablespoons of the filling, and divide the rest into three parts by weight.
Working quickly, place the first cake layer on the serving platter, place a cake ring or a cake form around it, line it with a strip of acetate, and close it in place. Add one-third of the prepared filling. Continue stacking the cake layers until all of them are used up.
Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 4 hours, until it firms up, and keep the remaining filling at room temperature. Once the cake is stable, remove from the refrigerator, remove the cake form, quickly frost the top and sides with a thin layer of filling, and cover with ground walnuts, if desired. Place it back into the refrigerator overnight, and serve in thin slices with freshly brewed coffee. Yields 12 rich servings.
