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This moist coffee and walnut loaf cake is topped with thick, espresso flavored icing. It’s easy to make in one bowl, plus, it’s vegan friendly. A sweet treat for any coffee lover!
why You’ll love this coffee and walnut loaf cake
Coffee and walnut cake is a popular sponge cake over in the UK. It’s usually a layer cake with coffee-flavored buttercream frosting, but it can be made into a traybake or a loaf cake (like we’re doing today)!
It’s completely vegan, eggless, and dairy-free thanks to the egg replacer- applesauce.
Emily’s Recipe Notes:
- Perfect for coffee lovers with bold espresso flavor.
- This loaf cake has just the right amount of sweetness and the thick espresso icing helps balance out all the flavors.
- This cake is super duper easy, can be made in one bowl, and is ready in under an hour.
- Time:
Why We Love This Coffee Walnut Loaf: I like to think of this loaf cake as banana bread’s fancy cousin. It has a moist cake crumb and sweetness level that’s similar to banana bread, but the flavor is punchy thanks to a generous helping of coffee and instant espresso.
ingredients You’ll Need
Freshly brewed coffee is probably the only ingredient that you’ll need to prep beforehand. I ended up using the leftover coffee from my morning pot. To make this one-bowl recipe, you’ll need to gather to following:
- Oil
- Brown Sugar
- Coffee
- Instant Coffee Powder or Espresso Powder
- Vanilla Extract
- Applesauce
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Chopped Walnuts or Walnut Halves
the best vegan egg substitutes
No eggs are necessary for this easy coffee walnut cake! Applesauce serves as a fantastic egg replacer in this cake and in loaf breads. For example-I use applesauce in my Vegan Zucchini Bread! Since eggs also help leaven cakes, today I’m adding baking powder as the leavening agent to help the cake rise.
This recipe calls for oil which means it’s also dairy-free and vegan. Of course, you could substitute in melted vegan butter if you’d like!
Over the years, I’ve tested baked loaf cakes like this with a few different egg replacers and without an egg replacer.
Without the egg replacer in this recipe, the loaf will be slightly crumblier and will have a looser texture (it won’t slice as nicely and won’t be as moist). I also tested this recipe with flaxseed as the egg replacer and the texture was denser than I’d like.
how to make the vegan coffee & walnut loaf
The prep time for this cake is super fast. It takes about 10 minutes to mix together. Like most loaves, the longest part is just waiting for it to bake!
Beat the oil and sugar until creamy. Add the applesauce, coffee, and vanilla.
Mix to combine.
Sift the flour, baking powder, instant coffee, and salt together onto the wet ingredients.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth. You can also use a hand mixer if you’d like.
Fold the walnuts into the cake batter.
Add the batter to the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top.
baking the loaf
Depending on the loaf pan you are using, the baking time will vary by a few minutes. This cake bakes at 350F or 175 C, so you’ll want to preheat it to that temperature prior to baking.
- If you’re using a mini loaf pan (5×3″)- bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes.
- For a regular loaf pan (8×4″)- bake the loaf for 40-45 minutes.
how to make the coffee icing
This loaf definitely isn’t complete without this sweet coffee icing on top. This frosting recipe should form a very thick glaze (like the photo above).
- Powdered Sugar, also called icing sugar
- Maple Syrup
- Melted Vegan Butter, or butter of choice
- Instant Coffee, or instant espresso powder
- Freshly Brewed Coffee, to thin out the glaze as needed
To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar, maple syrup, melted vegan butter, instant coffee, and freshly brewed coffee together in a small bowl. When drizzling the glaze, it should form thick ribbons.
Spoon the glaze onto the loaf and sprinkle on more chopped walnuts if you’d like!
If it looks like your coffee icing is too thin, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time to the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency.
storing the cake
Once the cake is glazed, it’s ready to eat! The glaze will harden up after about 15 minutes (similar to a thick donut glaze). Once it’s set, it’s easier to slice and store.
There’s also something festive about this loaf making it great for holiday baking (maybe because of the walnuts…?). It would be great to curl up with on a chilly winter morning or to munch on with afternoon tea or a cup of coffee.
- Room Temperature: This vegan coffee walnut cake stores well at room temperature for 2-3 days. I place mine in an airtight container, like a glass Tupperware.
- Freezer: I like to slice the loaf and place the slices in a single layer inside a ziplock baggie. You could also stack the slices in a container with parchment paper between them. Then, pop them in the freezer and they’ll stay fresh for 1-2 months!
tips & tricks
Below are some tips, tricks, and faqs to help you make the best vegan coffee walnut loaf cake!
Yes! This recipe is dairy-free since it uses vegetable oil for the fat to add moisture. It also calls for vegan butter in the icing recipe. I recommend using Violife Plant Butter in this recipe. This vegan butter has been tried and true in all my recipes over the years.
The batter should be very thick. You’ll have to spoon it into the pan as it will be too thick to pour.
Absolutely! This recipe would make the best vegan coffee walnut muffins. Line your muffin pan and bake the muffins for about 16-19 minutes. You can also pour the coffee walnut cake batter into a baking tray or a rectangular cake tin to make a traybake!
More Loaf Cakes
Video Tutorial
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Coffee and Walnut Loaf Cake
Rate this RecipeIngredients
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil, 60g
- ¾ cup loosely packed light brown sugar, 140g
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, 130g
- ¼ cup strong brewed coffee, 50g
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 3g
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, 180g – spooned (not scooped) from the bag and leveled off
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder, 8g
- 1 tbsp instant espresso or coffee, 5g
- ½ tsp salt, 3g
- ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, 65g
Coffee Glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar or icing sugar, 80g
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup, 30g
- 1 tbsp melted vegan butter, 14g
- 1 tsp instant espresso, 2g – or instant coffee
- 1-2 tsp strong brewed coffee
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare two mini 5×3” (13×7.6 cm) loaves or one 8×4” (20×10 cm) loaf by greasing them and lining with parchment.
- In a large bowl, beat the oil and sugar until combined. Then whisk in the applesauce, coffee, and vanilla.⅓ cup vegetable oil, ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, ¾ cup loosely packed light brown sugar, ¼ cup strong brewed coffee, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Sift the flour, baking powder, instant coffee and salt together onto the wet ingredients. Mix the wet and dry together until the mixture is smooth and fold in the walnuts.1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp instant espresso or coffee, ½ tsp salt, ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth out the top.
- For a regular loaf pan (8×4"), bake the loaf for 40-50 minutes. If you're using 2 mini loaf pans (5×3"), bake them for 30-35 minutes. The loaf is finished baking when a knife or toothpick inserted in the middle removes cleanly (except for a few crumbs).
- Let the loaf cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.Mix all the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. When drizzling the glaze, it should form thick ribbons. Add more powdered sugar or coffee as needed to thicken or thin the icing. Spoon onto the cooled cake.¾ cup powdered sugar or icing sugar, 2 tbsp pure maple syrup, 1 tbsp melted vegan butter, 1 tsp instant espresso, 1-2 tsp strong brewed coffee
Video
Recipe notes
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If it looks like your coffee icing is too thin, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time to the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency. If it looks too thick, add 1/2 tsp of liquid coffee until it reaches the thickness in the photos.
Once the cake is glazed, it's ready to eat! The glaze will harden up after about 15 minutes (similar to a thick donut glaze). Once it's set, it's easier to slice and store. This vegan coffee walnut cake stores well at room temperature for 2-3 days. I place mine in an air-tight container, like a glass Tupperware.
Did You Make This?
Leave a star rating and a comment below to let others know how it turned out for you!
I have not made this Cake, but will do so in February for my nonVegan friend.
Hi!
Have you tried to make this with egg instead of applesauce as the egg replacer (we don’t have applesauce in my country, so I’d have to make applesauce from scratch to use it!)? If so, how many eggs (I assume 1 but could be wrong…).
Thanks!
Hi Amanda! I haven’t tried this recipe with eggs or another egg replacer. 1/2 cup of applesauce is equivalent to about 2-3 eggs, depending on their size. You could also try 1/2 cup of unsweetened dairy-free yogurt, however I haven’t tried this substitution in this exact recipe so I can’t guarantee how it will turn out.