Can one bake a Coffee and Walnut Cake in the caravan? The answer is yes, as I baked this gorgeous cake in the pretty basic oven we have in the caravan. It’s not difficult if you prepare in advance. By preparing I mean having a mix for cake. You can buy a ready made cake mix, but I find those too sweet and too expensive for what they are: some flour and sugar with a bit of raising agent. Before leaving for our holiday, I’ve weight in the ingredients for the cake and put them in a bag. Alternatively, you can put them in a plastic container and it reduces the waste. I didn’t have any plastic containers that were big enough for this.

As you can see, the cake is not difficult to make while caravanning. I’ve also made Victoria sponge, using a flour mix I’ve prepared at home.

Ingredients for Coffee and Walnut Cake:

– 200g plain white flour
– 100g sugar
– 1 tsp baking powder
– 100g walnuts, chopped
– 4 tsp instant coffee
– 2 free range eggs
– 200g butter (soften, at room temperature)
– 150g light mascarpone
– 100g icing sugar

If you are making the cake while on holiday, do what I did and put the flour, sugar, and the baking powder in a bag to take with you. Also, chop the walnuts and take them with you in a plastic container, do the same with the icing sugar. Alternatively, you can approximate the weight of your ingredients by using a spoon. A spoon of flour/sugar is 10g and a heaped spoon of sugar is also 10g.

Start by heating the oven. Dissolve the instant coffee in a couple of spoons of water, leave it on a side to cool down. In a bowl, press 150g of butter with a spoon so it softens a bit more. Add the flour mix, the two eggs and mix until it is incorporated. Pour half of the coffee on top and incorporate. Toss in half of the walnuts and incorporate. Transfer the cake batter into the cake mould and put in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. After that check if it is baked and leave it a bit more if needed. Rotate the mould, so the cake bakes evenly.

While the cake is baking, you can make the cream. In a bowl, put the remaining butter and mix with the mascarpone. Incorporate the icing sugar. Pour the remaining coffee and mix.

When the cake is baked, take it out of the oven and leave it to cool. When the sponge is cold, cut in two layers. Put the first layer on the plate and spread half of the cream on top. Put the second layer and spread the remaining cream on top. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts on top of the cake.