Walnut Cake with Candied Walnuts Recipe

A delicious walnut cake recipe topped with candied walnuts and filled with a quark, sour cream and honey filling.

WALNUT CAKE RECIPE

This walnut cake with candied walnuts is the perfect cake for Christmas this year.

It has a winter taste due to the walnuts, a winter look thanks to those creamy white quark-honey layers, it is better when made a day in advance, so no hassle on Christmas day and it tastes absolutely wonderful.

This is another one of those cakes I have been making for several years now and just like in the case of this Chocolate Gateau, I have been making this walnut cake over and over again not only for our family but for other people as well, people who keep coming back wishing me to bake this quark cake with candied walnuts for them again.

So I guess that this is really something that speaks for this walnut cake, if so many people want to eat it again and again, it must be good!

And how about a more traditional Christmas cake, for instance an easy fruit cake without alcohol? Or another amazing walnut cake with candied walnuts and buttercream. It might sound similar to this walnut cake with quark, but it is completely different in taste, looks and texture. A dream of a cake!

HOW TO MAKE WALNUT CAKE?

Batter:

1. Preheat the oven at 150 degrees Celsius/ 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter two 20 cm/ 8 inch springforms or cake pans and place them in the fridge while you prepare the rest.
3. Beat the eggs and the sugar together until pale and fluffy.
4. Melt the butter and let cool slightly while you mix the rest of the ingredients.
5. Mix together the ground walnuts, flour, baking powder and cinnamon and fold in the egg mixture.
6. Fold the melted butter into the mixture as well.
7. Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared springforms or cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove carefully and let cool completely on wire racks.

Filling:

1. Mix the quark, sour cream and honey to taste with a spoon, do not use a mixer or kitchen machine or the filling will be too runny.
2. Whisk the double cream and the whipped cream stabilizer until stiff and carefully fold into the quark mixture.
3. Slice each cake once, so that you have 4 cake slices.
4. Layer the cake slices and the filling.
5. Place in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours before serving or overnight.

HOW TO MAKE CANDIED WALNUTS?

1. Let the sugar and the honey caramelize in a non-stick pan.
2. Stir in the chopped walnuts and the cinnamon and stir to coat all over.
3. Transfer the walnuts on a tray lined with baking paper and leave to cool completely.
4. Sprinkle the caramelized walnuts on top of the walnut cake just before serving.

TIPS FOR MAKING THE WALNUT CAKE WITH CANDIED WALNUTS

Temperature:

• What I find important is to keep the lower baking temperature.
• The first couple of times I made this cake, I baked it at a higher temperature and I always had the problem of the cake not being really done in the middle while being completely dry around the edges and also not rising properly in the middle.
• Lowering the baking temperature and slightly increasing the baking time worked like a charm.
• You can see it in the pictures: the cakes are even and evenly baked through.

Stabilizer for whipped cream:

• The stabilizer for whipped cream is a very common ingredient in Germany – Sahnesteif, but maybe harder to find elsewhere. I use Dr. Oetker Whip It – stabilizer for whipped cream or similar products.
• The higher the fat content of the cream, the stiffer the whipped cream will be, 40% fat would be ideal. If the fat procent is lower (30-38%), the whipped cream will probably have difficulties holding its shape. That can be a problem if you want to decorate a cake with whipped cream.
• So, try buying cream to whip with a high fat percent or try to find the stabilizer for whipped cream.

Otherwise I really hope you are having a great pre-Christmas time, I thoroughly enjoy this time of the year.

The kids tell me every day they wish that Christmas Eve was already there (they cannot wait for the presents, of course), but I like this time just as much as Christmas itself.

Lights and candles everywhere, a crackling fireplace every day, lots of baking, searching for the right presents, good books in the evening, Christmas movies and music…. love it! The weather is not what is supposed to be, but that never is, so I try to ignore it…

I do hope you found all your presents already and that you are having a cozy, stress-free winter time!

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Walnut Cake with Candied Walnuts Recipe

Yield: 14-16

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

A delicious walnut cake recipe topped with candied walnuts and filled with a quark, sour cream and honey filling.

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Ingredients

• Walnut cake:
• 8 eggs (medium Germany, large US)
• 250 g/ 8.8 oz/ 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 200 g/ 7 oz/ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 2/3 cups ground walnuts
• 200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Filling:
• 500 g/ 1.1 lbs/ 2 cups + 2 tablespoons low-fat quark
• 200 g/ 7 oz/ 2/3 cup sour cream (a stiffer kind)
• 4 tablespoons runny clear honey or more to taste
• 400 g/ 14 oz/ 1 2/3 cups heavy cream
• 2 sachets stabilizer for whipping cream – Whip it! (See blog post for more information on that)
• Candied walnuts:
• 75 g/ 2.6 oz/ 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon runny clear honey
• 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• a pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven at 150 degrees Celsius/ 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter two 20 cm/ 8 inch springforms or cake pans and place them in the fridge while you prepare the rest.
2. Beat the eggs and the sugar together until pale and fluffy. Melt the butter and let cool slightly while you mix the rest of the ingredients.
3. Mix together the ground walnuts, flour, baking powder and cinnamon and fold into the egg mixture. Fold the melted butter in the mixture as well.
4. Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared springforms or cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Leave to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove carefully and let cool completely on wire racks.

Filling:

1. Mix the quark, sour cream and honey to taste with a spoon, do not use a mixer or kitchen machine or the filling will get too runny.
2. Whisk the heavy cream shortly. Slowly add the whipped cream stabilizer and continue beating until stiff.
3. Carefully fold the heavy cream into the quark mixture.
4. Slice each cake once, so that you have 4 slices. Layer the cakes and the filling. Place in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours before serving or overnight.

Candied walnuts:

1. Let the sugar and the honey caramelize in a non-stick pan.
2. Stir in the chopped walnuts and the cinnamon and stir to coat all over.
3. Transfer the walnuts on a tray lined with baking paper and leave to cool completely.
4. Sprinkle the caramelized walnuts on top of the cake just before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 513Total Fat: 36gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 157mgSodium: 121mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 12g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Other Christmas cake ideas:

Romanian Sweet Bread with Walnuts – Cozonac

Fruit Mince Pies 

Apple Caramel Cake