Name: Walnut Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 1 cup or 250 g butter, softened; 1 cup or 200 g Regular or Castor Sugar; 1 1/2 cups or 190 g AP flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 4 eggs, lightly beaten; 1/3 cup or 80 ml Milk; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 1/4 Cups or 140 g Chopped walnuts; 5 oz or 150 g Softened Butter; 2 1/2 Cups or 300 g Powdered/icing sugar; *** Please note, you may wish to increase this amount if you have a very very sweet tooth.; 1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract

Jump to Recipe

Walnut Cake is a deliciously easy recipe. The cake is so soft and fluffy! There's also a recipe for a lovely vanilla frosting.

You can make this as a round cake or a loaf, instructions for both. Freezer friendly too. This would also make a nice cake for the holidays!

Walnut Cake is a delicious easy recipe. the cake is so soft and fluffy! Recipe also for a lovely vanilla frosting. You can make this a s a round cake or a loaf, instructions for both. Freezer friendly too!

Walnut Cake! What a wonderful cake!

For this recipe, I've used one of my basic cake recipes and adjusted it to get a lovely fluffy texture and accommodate the walnuts inside the cake.

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It is a light, fluffy sponge cake, a bit like eating clouds, and the flavor is very delicious. The addition of a simple vanilla buttercream frosting adds another dimension to each bite, so all in all, this is a very nice eat!

... and of course, it goes perfectly with a lovely cup of tea.

This walnut cake uses 2 round cake tins, which means I can make a sandwich cake with the frosting in between the layers and then on top too. However, this cake will also cook very well as a loaf cake, so if you prefer that, all you need to do is take note of the longer cook time.

Otherwise, everything else stays the same.

The cake itself is not sickly sweet, because the buttercream frosting has vanilla, which adds extra sweetness, and not too much sugar. If you do have a particularly sweet tooth, I would suggest you taste the frosting as you are making it and add a little more sugar to your taste.

This walnut cake will also freeze very well, so if you needed to make ahead, or perhaps you wanted to freeze in portions, then all you need to do is wrap it very well in some parchment and then airtight in a zip bag and simply defrost to room temperature when you wish to eat it.

So let's see how to make this easy walnut cake recipe! It's by far the best walnut cake recipe I know!

By the way, you can also add 2 - 3 tablespoons of Expresso coffee in the batter if you wanted a variation. See our Coffee Walnut Cake recipe. It's delicious! That is also a nice combination which I have made several times.

If you love walnuts, check out our delicious Walnut Butter Cookies. They go perfect with your morning tea or coffee!

Table of Contents 📋 hide

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 - 35 minutes OR 1 hr for a loaf pan

Yield

12 Persons

Ingredients

The Cake

1 cup or 250 g butter, softened
1 cup or 200 g Regular or Castor Sugar
1 ½ cups or 190 g AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ cup or 80 ml Milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ Cups or 140 g Chopped walnuts

The frosting

5 oz or 150 g Softened Butter
2 ½ Cups or 300 g Powdered/icing sugar *** Please note, you may wish to increase this amount if you have a very very sweet tooth.
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160 C, 325 F. Grease and lightly flour two 8 inch or 20 cm loose-bottomed round cake tins. I always like to place a disc of parchment in the base of each tin so the cake comes out very easily. You can also use our easy pan release recipe if you don't have any parchment paper.

2. Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Chop the walnuts. Make sure the pieces are NO LARGER than pea size. Any bigger and they will sink to the bottom during baking.

3. Lightly beat eggs and add vanilla in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
** NOTE: Creaming the butter and sugar is VERY important to get a fluffy texture to the cake crumb. Please make sure you use your mixer and cream until you see the color of the butter turn almost white. It will take you around 5 - 7 minutes for this to happen, and it is worth the extra time taken!

4. Add egg mixture, a little at a time to the batter. Then add half the flour, then milk, then the rest of flour. Add the walnuts and make sure they are well combined and distributed.

5. Transfer the cake batter mixture equally into the 2 baking tins and bake 30 - 35 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. If using a loaf pan, keep the same temperature, and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hr 10 minutes. Again, check for doneness.

6. . Allow the cakes to rest for 2 minutes then remove from pans and place UPSIDE DOWN on a cooling rack. Allow to COMPLETELY cool before frosting.
*** Please note, bake times will vary slightly so please check for doneness after 25 - 30 minutes of baking.

For the Buttercream Frosting

7. Add the softened butter (it MUST be softened) vanilla and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl and start by using a wooden spoon to combine.

If you start with an electric mixer the powdered sugar will fly everywhere!! Once combined, use a mixer and beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until you see an almost white colour and the mixture is fluffy.

At this point, taste the buttercream for sweetness. If you want more, just add some more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it is to your liking.

8. When the cakes have COMPLETELY cooled, place the first cake on the plate, then take some frosting and spread evenly over the top. Then add the second cake on top and continue to frost all over the cake, or how you like.

You can simply spread the frosting or use a piping bag if you would like a pretty pattern. You choose!

Make up a cup of tea and enjoy!

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

Recipe

Walnut Cake

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Walnut Cake is a delicious easy recipe. The cake is so soft and fluffy! Recipe also for a lovely vanilla frosting. You can make this as a round cake or a loaf, instructions for both. Freezer friendly too. This would also make a nice cake for the holidays!

Ingredients

The Cake :

1 cup or 250 g butter, softened
1 cup or 200 g Regular or Castor Sugar
1 ½ cups or 190 g AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ cup or 80 ml Milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ Cups or 140 g Chopped walnuts

The frosting:

5 oz or 150 g Softened Butter
2 ½ Cups or 300 g Powdered/icing sugar
*** Please note, you may wish to increase this amount if you have a very very sweet tooth.
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 160 C, 325 F. Grease and lightly flour two 8 inch or 20 cm loose bottomed round cake tins. I always like to place a disc of parchment in the base of each tin so the cake comes out very easily.
Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Chop the walnuts. Make sure the pieces are NO LARGER than pea size. Any bigger and they will sink to the bottom during baking.
Lightly beat eggs and add vanilla in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

** NOTE: Creaming the butter and sugar is VERY important to get a fluffy texture to the cake crumb. Please make sure you use your mixer and cream until you see the colour of the butter turn almost white. It will take you around 5 - 7 minutes for this to happen, and it is worth the extra time taken!

Add egg mixture, a little at a time to the batter. Then add half the flour, then milk, then the rest of flour. Add the walnuts and make sure they are well combined and distributed.
Transfer the cake batter mixture equally in to the 2 baking tins and bake 30 - 35 mins or until skewer comes out clean. If using a loaf pan, keep the same temperature, and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hr 10 minutes. Again, check for doneness.
Allow the cakes to rest for 2 minutes then remove from pans and place UPSIDE DOWN on a cooling rack. Allow to COMPLETELY cool before frosting.
*** Please note, bake times will vary slightly so please check for done - ness after 25 - 30 minutes of baking.

For the Buttercream Frosting:

Add the softened butter (it MUST be softened) vanilla and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl and start by using a wooden spoon to combine. If you start with an electric mixer the powdered sugar will fly everywhere!! Once combined, use a mixer and beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until you see an almost white colour and the mixture is fluffy. At this point, taste the buttercream for sweetness. If you want more, just add some more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it is to your liking.
When the cakes have COMPLETELY cooled, place the first cake on the plate, then take some frosting and spread evenly over the top. Then add the second cake on top and continue to frost all over the cake, or how you like. You can simply spread the frosting or use a piping bag if you would like a pretty pattern. You choose!
Make up a cup of tea and enjoy!

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 566Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 134mgSodium: 500mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 1gSugar: 42gProtein: 6g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate

Celebration Cakes

Here's a great selection of celebration cakes perfect for a party!

Cranberry and Pecan Christmas Cake

Cranberry and Pecan Christmas Cake, loaded with delicious fruits and Spiced Rum. A perfect treat for Christmas.

Coffee Walnut Sandwich Cake

Coffee Walnut Sandwich Cake.
The best coffee and walnut cake, a classic British afternoon tea cake, layers of soft and fluffy coffee cake with chopped walnuts throughout, adds a great flavor and texture, frosted with coffee cream cheese frosting. A pure delight to eat!

Categories: Cakes Desserts International Recipes Tapas / Party Food

Share your thoughts

93 thoughts shared

Danielle Roy
says:
October 29th, 2022 at 8:40 pm

Hi, same problem as Christina, very dense and dry. I had read the instructions a few times before starting the recipe.

Step 4: Add egg mixture, a little at a time to the batter. Then add half the flour, then milk, then the rest of flour. Add the walnuts and make sure they are well combined and distributed.

Your instructions to Christina are different from the recipe.

4. Once you’ve added the milk and eggs, and you have the remaining flour to add, use a spoon or spatula, and GENTLY fold the flour in to keep as much air as possible. The easiest way to fold the flour in is to do like a triangular motion with the spoon, then turn the mixing bowl 90 degrees, and do another triangular motion. Keep the spoon motions light, and continue maybe 5 etc.

I was very disappointed of the results. Nobody like it.

Reply
Jess
says:
October 15th, 2022 at 6:52 am

I think you should include the instruction “gently fold” because as someone who doesn’t make cakes often I’m not going to know that the flour needs to be folded in for the cake to be fluffy. I used the hand held mixer (the thing I used to cream the butter) to mix in every thing else so I lost all the air. Only saw the instruction in the review comments to gently fold.

Reply
Zainab
says:
September 8th, 2022 at 2:55 pm

Hi!
I really like your recipe, I wanted to ask if I could self raising flour instead of all purpose flour?

Reply
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  September 8th, 2022 at 3:15 pm
  
  Hi Zainab, yes of course you can use SR flour, use the same amount and LEAVE OUT the baking powder from the recipe.
  Hope that helps!
  Happy baking,
  Mary
  
  Reply
Matt P
says:
January 10th, 2022 at 1:31 am

Made this cake and it turned out great! Added a tablespoon of cinnamon to the batter and a bit of ground ginger (will have to be more next time). Also added a thin layer of lemon curd between layers. Yum!

Reply
jenny stokes
says:
August 24th, 2021 at 3:28 am

Caster should be spelled with an E not an O. it refers to sugar ground fine for casting or strewing. Castor generally refers to castor oil (not a flavour for cake!) or beavers (also not a usual cake ingredient). On the packet it is “caster”, at least in Australia. great recipe, though – thanks!

Reply
Aylin
says:
August 18th, 2021 at 4:05 am

Can I make this into cupcakes ?

Reply
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  August 18th, 2021 at 7:32 am
  
  Hi, yes of course!
  
  Reply
Peggy
says:
June 8th, 2021 at 3:40 pm

I made this the other day, added a cup of chopped dates, and it was delicious. Not sweet at all, but paired with the right frosting is delicious.

Reply
DORIS GUZIKOWSKI
says:
May 14th, 2021 at 1:50 pm

HI MARY, I WANT TO MAKE THE WALNUT CAKE SOON. IT LOOKS SO GREAT AND MOIST. CAN I MAKE THIS IN A 9X13 PAN? IT’S FOR A PARTY. THANK YOU FOR SOME EXCELLENT RECIPES. DORIS

Reply
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  May 14th, 2021 at 2:03 pm
  
  Hi Doris! Yes indeed. As it happens, I am making this cake on Sunday for my partner’s 50th in 2 sheet pans and sandwiching inbetween with frosting for a 50th birthday! so yes, you can indeed make it in a sheet pan. As always, check in the middle of the cake to make sure it’s cooked through. It may take a little longer than in 2 round pans by 5 or 6 minutes, so keep an eye on it.
  Please enjoy and have a fun party!
  
  Reply
Adriana
says:
April 18th, 2021 at 5:39 am

I just made the cake and I loved it 🥰💜🥰It’s a delicious fluffy cake. Mine turned out to be a little salty and I think that’s because I used salted butter. And I filled it with dulce de leche. Wonderful 😋

Reply
Rachel Robbins
says:
January 22nd, 2021 at 7:20 pm

Can this be made as cupcakes? Also, in the ingredients, it says 11/2 g
or 190 cups AP flour. I’m assuming that this is a typo & it should be
11/2 cups of flour instead of 11/2 g of flour? Is this correct?

Reply
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  January 22nd, 2021 at 7:54 pm
  
  Hi Rachel, thanks so much for making me aware of the typo. I’ve gone in and corrected it. Really appreciated!
  As for cupcakes. yes! I would suggest around 18 minutes bake time, but check after 15 minutes incase your oven is a little different. It’s a lovely cake so please enjoy!
  
  Reply
  1. Gabi
    says:
    March 6th, 2021 at 10:56 pm
    
    I made this cake today , it did come out very moist , but way to sweet and I think it has to much of a butter taste in the cake
    Overpowering in my opinion
    I don’t think. Will make it again
  2. Elizabeth
    says:
    October 14th, 2021 at 6:21 am
    
    May I ask for clarification on the amount of flour used in the recipe? Other recipes for walnut cake have the same # of eggs, and the same amount of fat (1 cup); most have twice the sugar (2 cups) and twice the amount of flour (3 to 3.5 cups) that this recipe contains. I’d love to try this recipe and the photos of the finished cake are beautiful, but am not sure I understand why this has so little flour.
  3. Lovefoodies
    says:
    October 14th, 2021 at 8:07 am
    
    Hi Elizabeth, the quantities are correct, this cake has a lovely soft and fluffy texture, it’s not a sickly sweet cake, (so the sugar is less to take into account the frosting which adds sweetness too). The batter is quite loose because there is milk added which will give you a lighter cake too.
    I make this cake many times over the year for friends and family, sometimes swapping the walnuts for pecans, and it comes out just like the photos every time, so hopefully, you will get to try the recipe! It’s a lovely cake!
  4. Elizabeth
    says:
    October 15th, 2021 at 4:54 am
    
    Thank you for explaining about the flour! I realized after looking more closely at other recipes that they contained more milk than yours as well, so then it made sense that there would be proportionately less flour in your recipe. Sorry I did not catch that. I tried it today, just as you wrote it and it turned out great! Very rich. Your suggestion about parchment paper is something I will definitely do next time, because greasing and flouring the pan was not enough to keep it from sticking to the bottom a little. And the longer creaming time for the sugar and butter is very good advice, making the final texture of the unbaked batter was almost mousse-like. I only had salted butter on hand and the result was reminiscent of chocolate chip cookie dough flavor, with a nutty extra — so sort of salty / lightly sweet, but not too sweet. I was so glad the sweetness was subtle so the walnuts took center stage. When I make this cake again, I may try the recipe as written but buy some unsalted butter to use. Such a lovely cake!
  5. Lovefoodies
    says:
    October 15th, 2021 at 8:27 am
    
    Hi Elizabeth, thanks for your update and so glad you enjoyed the cake!
Dmitry Zotikov
says:
January 7th, 2021 at 11:31 am

Can confirm the recipe works.

For 9 inch tins I’d multiply the ingredient quantities by (9/8)^2 = 1.26 as the volume of the cylinder grows quadratically of the radius.

To my taste the frosting was too sweet. Next time I’ll probably decrease the amount of sugar by at least a fifth in the cake as well.

Otherwise a great recipe, thank you for sharing.

Reply
1. fatina
  says:
  January 29th, 2021 at 10:28 am
  
  Hi, Im planning to bake this soon. how do i adjust the measurements for two 6 inch pans. And how long should I bake them? Thanks
  
  Reply
Grace Lee
says:
November 29th, 2020 at 7:08 am

I had just made this with half ingredients and substituted butter with margarine in a silicone loaf pan for 45min. It came out to be almost 2″ tall so I cut it into half to make a sandwich. It’s a bit too sweet otherwise it will be perfect. Texture is nice, I like the buttercream volume, it came out just nice, enough for sandwich and top, unlike some recipes that yields so much that you have to slather them on and usually wasted most of it. This recipe is a keeper. I will try next time with half sugar and see how it turns out. Thanks for this wonderful cake.

Reply
Annette John
says:
October 20th, 2020 at 12:59 pm

Hi, just like to say that I made this cake yesterday, and it’s a beautiful cake, out mixture into two tins, and sandwich together 😁, really lovely cake!! Thanks for the recipe xx

Reply
Visnja Nesbit
says:
September 17th, 2020 at 3:18 am

The cake is baking as I speak… a wonderful recipe and it looks perfect. Thank you!

Reply
Emily
says:
July 19th, 2020 at 4:43 pm

Hello! does the cake have to be refrigerated after frosted?

Reply
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  July 19th, 2020 at 10:42 pm
  
  Hi Emily, it is a butter frosting so if possible, it should be refrigerated so it is easier to cut.
  
  Reply
  1. Evelyn Foley
    says:
    July 21st, 2020 at 8:43 pm
    
    This looks so good. My mother’s 96th birthday is this Saturday. I will make for her.
    Thank you for putting in American measurements.. I sometimes see recipes with grams and have no idea how much to use.
    I can’t wait to try this.

Prep Time

Cook Time

Yield

Ingredients

The Cake

The frosting

Instructions

For the Buttercream Frosting

Recipe

Ingredients

The Cake :

The frosting:

Instructions

** NOTE: Creaming the butter and sugar is VERY important to get a fluffy texture to the cake crumb. Please make sure you use your mixer and cream until you see the colour of the butter turn almost white. It will take you around 5 - 7 minutes for this to happen, and it is worth the extra time taken!

For the Buttercream Frosting:

Recommended Products

Nutrition Information:

Did you make this recipe?