Walnut Cake with Maple Pecan Butter Frosting
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Lorna over at Tearoom Delights (a woman who knows from cake. And scones. And tea.) has had my mouth watering for walnut cake (see a yummy one from her site here). While I was searching for a chocolate cake recipe, I ran across a clipping from Cooking Light for a frosted walnut cake. Despite coming from the pages of a “light” cooking magazine, it looked like a big sugar bomb to me, but worth trying. I modified the cake to lessen the fat and sugar and completely ditched their sugary frosting in favor of what amounts to a nut spread. Admittedly not exactly fat free, but it’s the good fat, right?
Walnut Cake with Maple Pecan Butter Frosting
Makes a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, as many or as little slices as you like
Cake:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. powdered stevia
7 tbsp. vegan “butter”
1/4 cup maple sugar
3 tbsp. silken tofu
4 oz. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup vegan “buttermilk”
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Frosting:
2 cups pecans, toasted
6-8 tbsp. almond milk
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. flaxseed meal + 1 1/2 tbsp. water (mix together and let sit for a minute)
Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and stevia powder. Set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, cream the maple sugar and “butter” until smooth. Whisk in the silken tofu, vanilla extract, applesauce and the “buttermilk.” Mixture will look curdled – but of course, it is not – it’s just an illusion.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is firm, but springy, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
Make the frosting:
While the cake is baking, make the frosting. In a food processor, grind the pecans until finely chopped. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and with the food processor running, slowly pour in the liquid mixture. You will not have a perfectly smooth frosting, but get it as smooth as you can/want. Taste and adjust sweetness or if it seems too thick, add a little bit more almond milk.
I frosted the cake while it was still warm, but you can wait until the cake has cooled completely if desired. Cut into slices and serve.
Thank you very much for the mention Annie, your cake looks delicious! I love the idea of your frosting made from pecans, that will taste fantastic with the walnut and maple. Yum!
Sounds nutty and wonderful. What an interesting idea to combine the walnut cake with pecan frosting.
I thought that walnuts might be too bitter as a frosting – just a guess.
mjam! It’s such a shame stevia is so hard to find here… We don’t have applesauce either!
This looks amazing
X
I used to have to special order stevia, but now even my local market has it – and if you knew where I lived, you’d be impressed ;-).
This frosting looks like the kind of thing I’d eat straight from a spoon… Amazing!
Absolutely! I love nut butters.
I am in love with your frosting recipe! I think it may even be paleo!
Oh, wow! Yeah, it looks like it! Look at me!
this sounds awesome…kind of like a maple nut butter in cake form! I dig it
made the cake this for my dad’s birthday! subbed some gluten-free flours and used maple syrup instead of maple sugar but it turned out awesome!
Yay! I’m so glad! Thanks for letting me know, too!
positively mouthwatering.
I am normally not a fan of nuts in delicious situations such as cake but I like walnuts and I like cake ( food math ensues) If cake is good… and walnuts are yummy…then it only makes sense that a walnut cake would be extra delicious. I use that process in my everyday life haha I am going to save this for after I try those Irish potatoes.
I know – those “potatoes” looked amazing!
Yummmmm looks amazing! What a great combination of flavors!!!