Right, so today I fancied making something a bit different. Had some walnuts that needed using up, and the thought of coffee and ginger with them sounded pretty good. So, I figured I’d have a go at some coffee ginger walnut slices. Here’s how it went down.
What I rustled up:
Went looking for the bits and pieces. Here’s what I ended up grabbing from the cupboards and the fridge:
- Plain flour, a decent amount.
- Butter, the real stuff, none of that marge.
- Brown sugar, for that richer taste, you know.
- A couple of eggs.
- A hefty spoonful of that instant coffee stuff.
- A good chunk of ginger, fresh, grated it myself.
- Walnuts, of course, gave ’em a rough chop.
- A smidge of baking powder, just a little.
Yeah, that was about it. Nothing too fancy, just basic stuff mostly.
First thing, cranked the oven on. Usually, I’m scrambling for the oven at the last second, but got it on early this time, about 180 Celsius, or 350F for you folks over the pond. Then I got a bowl and chucked in the butter and brown sugar. Creamed them together with a wooden spoon. My arm got a bit of a workout, that’s for sure, till it looked sort of lighter and a bit fluffy.
Then I chucked the eggs in, one after the other, beat ’em in well after each one. After that, the coffee powder and that grated ginger got thrown in. Gave that a good stir. Yeah, the kitchen started to get a decent smell going at this point – that coffee and sharp ginger combo is something else.
Next up, the dry stuff. Bunged the flour in with some baking powder. Sifted that lot into the wet mix. Tried not to beat the hell out of it when I mixed it in. Just folded it, you know? Overmixing is bad news, or so they say. Last thing, chucked in the chopped walnuts. Gave it a final mix so they weren’t all lonely in one corner of the bowl.
I’d lined a square tin, maybe an 8-inch one, with baking paper. Saves a load of hassle cleaning up later, and stops it sticking. Slopped the batter in, spread it out as best I could with the back of a spoon. Batter was a sticky mess, which is usually what you want, I guess, for these kinds of slices.
Then into the preheated oven it went. Didn’t really time it, just kept peeking through the oven door. You know how it is. Waited till it was golden brown on top and if you stick a skewer in the middle, it comes out clean. Maybe 25 minutes, something like that, could be 30 depending on your oven. Smell coming out of the oven? Yeah, that was pretty decent.
Let it cool in the tin for a bit when it came out. No point rushing. Then I carefully lifted it out using the baking paper edges and put it on a wire rack till it was properly cold. Had to wait for it to cool. Rush it, and you just get a pile of crumbs when you try to slice it. Learned that the hard way a few times with other bakes.
Once it was cold, I chopped it up into chunks. Or slices, whatever you want to call them. Looked a bit rough around the edges, but who’s judging the looks when it’s going in your gob? Had one with my afternoon tea. You can definitely taste the coffee, the ginger gives it a bit of a warm kick, and the walnuts are nice and crunchy. Not too sweet, just how I like ’em.
So, that’s what I got up to in the kitchen today. All in all, they turned out alright. Can’t complain. Might do ’em again. Maybe more ginger next time if I’m feeling brave, or a splash of something stronger in with the coffee for the grown-ups, eh?
