Indonesian Walnut Cake

Hi all, I hope everyone is fine. Firstly I apologize for disappearing for quite some time. It had been me against the exams for the past month. Exam moments had been crazy. Working by the day and studying by the night. Thankfully the break has finally arrived and I think I deserve a good break from all the work-study juggle.

I have just moved in to a new place and I am really happy about it. It is so much better than my old house and the best part of it - the kitchen. It is so huge with heaps of working space and of course, a brand new oven. I was worried about not getting use to the new oven when I first tried baking with it. But the result of this cake shows that there is no need for worry.

The nice golden brown colour of the cake is so even, and the loaf rose beautifully in the oven. The crumb of the cake is so fine, although from the looks of the cake in the picture is looks a little crumbly. The cake is very moist too, even without the addition of milk. This is a sure keeper in my recipe book!

Recipe for Indonesian Walnut Cake
adapted from My Baking Cottage

Ingredients:

250g Butter
200g sugar (I reduced to 150g)
4 eggs, separated
200g Plain/cake flour
4g baking powder
30g chocolate chips (I omitted it)
150g walnuts
vanilla essence


Method:

1. Prepare and line a 9-inch cake pan (I used 7-inch square pan).
2. Chop walnuts and lightly toast in an oven for about 5 minutes. Be careful not to over toast it.
3. Sift flour and baking powder. Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, cream slightly softened butter with half of the sugar (in my case 75g) using an electric beater until light and fluffy.
5. Add egg yolks, one by one and cream and cream till well mixed.
6. Add in flour mixture slowly (You may use a wooden spoon manually or if you are using an electric beater, to use low speed). Set aside.
7. In another mixing bowl, beat egg whites using an electric beater. Add the other half of the sugar slowly and continue beating until the egg white reaches stiff peaks (When you lift the beater, the tip droop slightly, and beaten egg whites becomes stiff and shiny).
8. Add toasted nuts and chocolate chips into the cake batter.
9. Fold in beaten egg whites into the cake batter, in two to three additona, until egg whites is well-incorporated into the batter.
10. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven at 160C for about 50 minutes to one hour.

Indonesian Walnut Cake