#maple nut cake

On Old School Week, the bakers in the Great Canadian Baking Show tent had to bake a coffee cake for their Siganature Challenge. I love a good coffee cake, with a cup of tea or coffee in the arvo. I particularly love this Maple Nut Cake, because Maple Syrup (Pefferlaw Creek Farms’) gives it this distinctive, both delicate and suave flavour, and sweetens the cake without it being too sweet. 

Ingredients (serves 8 to 12):

1/3 cup hazelnuts

1/3 cup walnuts

1/3 cup Blanched Almonds

2 ¼ cup plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup demerara sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

1 cup buttermilk

½ cup pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup (like Ontario’s Pefferlaw Creek Farms’ Maple Syrup)

3 heaped tablespoons cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 tablespoon pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup (like Ontario’s Pefferlaw Creek Farms’ Maple Syrup)

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Butter a large loaf pan, and line with baking paper. Set aside.

In a small pan, over medium-high heat, lightly toast hazelnuts, walnuts and Blanched Almonds until just browned and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine plain flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda  Give a good stir to mix; set aside.

In a larger bowl, combine softened butter and demerara sugar. Cream butter and brown sugar with a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of the flour mixture, to prevent egg mixture from splitting.

Roughly chop toasted hazelnuts, walnuts and Blanched Almonds.

Then, using a rubber spatula, alternately fold in flour mixture, buttermilk and Maple Syrup into the egg mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture until just blended. With the last of the flour mixture, fold in chopped nuts.

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan, levelling with rubber spatula.

Place in the middle of the warm oven, and bake, at 160°C/320°F, 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, and let cake cool in its pan, 5 minutes, before turning onto a wire rack to let cool completely.

In a small bowl, whisk cream cheese, Maple Syrup and Vanilla Extract together, until well-blended and fluffy.

Ice the Maple Nut Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing.