Walnut Crumble Cake

I am  so happy and satisfied with this cake though my oven seemed to be asking for 'retirement'!  My recent bakes took much longer to bake than what was required.  This cake took 1.5 hours - can you believe it?  Well, at least at the end of 1.5 hours the cake turned out well.

I guess soon I have to approve the retirement of my oven and start sourcing for a new one ....

 

I seemed very to be in love with streusel cakes or cakes that have this kind of toppings (I almost finished the whole cake in one afternoon)!  Guilty, guilty .... strong guilt feeling ... why didnt I have control?  Why was I so greedy??? :(

The texture of the cake is so fine, soft and moist and sweetness just perfect ... so how I can stop at one piece!  

I am so tempted to warm up my oven and whip up another one ...... Oh shall I?

I may not have captured the photo well enough to convince you, but pop over to HHB and I am sure you will be bought over.  Please refer to HHB for a more convincing story.

Ingredients for the Crumbles:

100g digestive biscuits (crushed)
50g walnuts, lightly roasted and chopped coarsely
50g light brown sugar
5g instant coffee powder
2.5g cinnamon powder
50g cold butter

Ingredients for cake layer:

150g butter, softened at room temperature
100g castor sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten (about 100g)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt (I omitted cos I used salted butter)
200g cake flour (I used plain flour)
1 tsp baking powder
150g plain yoghurt

Method:

1.  Mix crushed digestive biscuits, light brown sugar, chopped walnuts, cinnamon powder, instant coffee powder in a mixing bowl.  With finger tips, rub in the cold butter until the mixture becomes crumbly.  Set aside.

2.  Sieve cake flour and baking powder.  Set aside.

3.  With a manual whisk or electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until the batter becomes pale, creamy and fluffy.

4.  Add in vanilla extract, salt and mix well.

5.  Add in eggs gradually, mix well each time the egg is added.

6.  With a spatula, stir in the flour mixture.  Stir until the flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter.  The batter should be quite thick and firm at this stage.

7.  Add in yoghurt in a few separate additions, stir well each time the yoghurt is added.  The batter will become smooth and 'spreadable'.

8.  Line the bottom of a 20cm (8") springform pan or a loose bottom pan with 1/3 of the crumbles. Spread evenly and press firmly with the back of a spoon.

9.  Add in half of the cake batter, spread evenly with the spatula.  Sprinkle the tope of the cake batter evenly with 1/3 of the crumbles.  Add in the remaining cake batter, spread evenly.  Sprinkle with the rest of the remaining crumbles.

10.  Bake in a preheated oven at 170 Deg for 35-40 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

11. Remove cake from oven, let it cool slightly and unmould.  Allow to cool completely befoe slicing.

12. The cake can be left in room temperature or left to chill in the fridge.  If allowed to chill, let the cake return to room temperature before serving.