Flourless Walnut Cake with Mocha Buttercream

Walnut Cake with Mocha Buttercream made from ground walnuts, sweetened with coconut sugar, and topped with a dairy-free rich chocolate buttercream with a hint of coffee. Gluten-free, dairy-free.

Flourless Walnut Cake with Mocha Buttercream

Flourless Walnut Cake with Mocha Buttercream made from ground walnuts, sweetened with coconut sugar, and topped with a dairy-free rich chocolate buttercream with a hint of coffee. Gluten-free, dairy-free.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 508kcal

Author Tessa

Ingredients

Walnut Cake

2 ¾ cups (about 340g) raw walnut pieces*
4 large eggs, separated
¾ cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mocha Buttercream

¼ cup vegan butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups organic powdered sugar
⅓ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
¼ cup brewed coffee, cooled**
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Walnut Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x9 square baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper so that there are parchment flaps or "handles" on each end.
Place walnuts in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse, scraping down sides as needed, until a coarse meal forms. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and coconut sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy. Add vanilla extract and walnut meal, stir well to combine.
Rinse and dry your beaters. In another medium bowl, with electric mixer beat your egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in a ⅓ of the egg whites at a time into the walnut mixture.
As you continue to fold and thoroughly combine egg whites into the batter it will start to liquify slightly. Make sure your egg white are completely integrated before transferring mixture to prepared pan. At this point the walnut mixture should resemble a more batter-like consistency.
Shake your pan slightly side to side to make sure it is even in pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, checking at the 40 minute mark. The top should have browned and a toothpick should come out mostly clean.
Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

For the Mocha Buttercream

When the cake has cooled, combine buttercream ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium until smooth.
Remove cake from pan. Spread mocha buttercream in an even layer. Sprinkle with extra walnut pieces if desired. Slice and serve.
Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

*If using walnut halves instead of pieces, use closer to 3 cups of walnuts.

**If you don't want to use coffee, replace the coffee with a non-dairy milk of choice.

Nutrition