Coffee Walnut Cake

I flip through Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries at least once a week. The chapters are based on the different months of the year so it’s really easy to find something to cook based on what’s in season.

After last week’s market day, we’ve been having lots of wonderful fruits and vegetables. The other night, we had fresh white asparagus, gently steamed then served with lemon butter. Two nights ago, we had small artichokes and dipped the leaves in a lemony mustard dressing.

For dessert yesterday evening, I macerated some strawberries in a teaspoon of vanilla-infused caster sugar (leave a split vanilla bean inside the jar of white sugar) with a dash of balsamic vinegar. This is a simple yet sophisticated way to serve strawberries. Some creme fraiche on the side would be good too.

Today, as I was skimming through the cookbook and looking for some inspiration for something sweet, I came upon one of my favorite cakes which I’ve done this lots of times before. The recipe is really easy to do plus I love coffee and I love cake so this is a perfect combination of the two. It’s so good that even Nigel Slater himself lists it as his “last supper” option in his column at the Guardian. Here it is – Nigel Slater’s Coffee Walnut Cake.