There’s a refined ‘grown-up’ pleasure to coffee and walnut cake. The taste is pleasingly sweet, but also carries an intensity not found in other flavours.

Because the cake is incredibly low in carbohydrate, it’s perfect for diabetics, paleo-fans, gluten-intolerants and those on a ketogenic-diet. It’s truly astounding that you can still eat this kind of food and lose weight. Sometimes it’s best not to question things I say. Just enjoy them!

The type-1 diabetic in my life certainly lives by that mantra. It’s so nice for diabetics to have delicious food without having to worry about the implications. This recipe won’t affect your blood-sugar, so can be consumed with largesse! There’s no fiddly insulin-adjustment required, as there’s virtually no carbohydrate. All you get is enjoyment! So give it a go!

To make the cake, weigh up 6oz of ground-almonds and 4oz of dessicated coconut. Add to a sturdy mixing-bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, plus the same of flaxseed.

Measure 3oz of xylitol sweetener and combine this with the almond-mixture. I always use xylitol in baking. In my experience, it’s the only sweetener which retains its sweetness once cooked; and its granular texture means that it behaves exactly like sugar in cake-recipes.

Set 2 large tablespoons of coconut-oil to melt by the range; or microwave it until liquid. Then whisk in a large tablespoon of instant coffee & add the coconut-mix to your bowl. Finally, stir in 3 beaten eggs and a handful of chopped walnuts, and fold until you have an easy-to-please dropping-consistency.

Spoon the cake-mix into your cake-tin. I used a large rectangle tin; but you can also use a round or square tin to your preference. Bake in a moderate oven for circa 30-40 minutes, until risen and browned. The cake should be spongy and resistant to the touch, and rise back up when pressed lightly with the finger. Remove from the oven and cool until room-temperature.

Once the cake is thoroughly cooled (and yes; it needs to be, or your icing will melt everywhere); dissolve a large teaspoonful of instant coffee in a tablespoon or two of water and leave to cool. The cold weather being what it is, I tend to cover things with a tea-towel and place them out on the garden wall for 5 minutes. That always chills things down far more quickly than even the most high-tech refrigerator!

Place 4 large tablespoons of cream-cheese into a bowl (full fat please). Add your cooled coffee-mix & half a cupful of table-sweetener (this can be other than xylitol, because it’s uncooked). You’ll also need to pour in two tablespoons of whipping-cream. This is required to thicken the mix after the addition of the liquid coffee. Whisk well until you achieve a spreading-consistency, then test for sweetness, adjusting levels to your preference.

Layer the frosting generously atop the cake with a palette-knife. Position walnut-halves at intervals across the surface and a pile to the side. And with that, pudding is served!

Another great thing about this recipe is that it works brilliantly as a morning-coffee or afternoon-tea accompaniment. What I’ve always liked about these ‘mini-meals’ is that it gives one licence to have slices of cake throughout the day! But because it’s low in carbs; there’s nothing stopping you. Dig in!

Thanks for reading and bon ap!

Adam.