This walnut cake is soft, moist, sweet and nutty. The cake needs just 3 ingredients and doesn’t require any flour, dairy, butter or oil. The cake can be made ahead of time and stores well.

This walnut cake has a soft and bouncy crumb, like a cake made with flour, even though it doesn’t contain any flour. The cake is a version of an Italian walnut cake, Torta di Noci. The cake works well for an afternoon tea cake or dessert. You can also customize the cake with other flavors.

Ingredients

  • Walnuts
  • Sugar
  • Eggs

Walnuts: Raw walnut halves or pieces are pulsed in a food processor until they resemble small crumbs.

Sugar: The cake is sweetened with regular granular sugar.

Eggs: Eggs create structure for this cake and help create the soft and bouncy texture. The egg yolks and whites are separated for this recipe.

How to Make Walnut Cake

  • The walnuts are pulsed in a food processor until they become small crumbs.
  • Add the yolks and half of the sugar and whisk until combined. Stir in the walnut crumbs. The mixture will be very thick, which is normal.
  • Add the egg whites into a clean mixing bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium high speed until the mixture is foamy. Gradually add in the remaining sugar with the mixer still beating until all of the sugar is incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
  • Working in 4 batches, add 1/3 of the egg whites to the walnut mixture and fold it in with a spatula. Then repeat with the next 1/3 and the final 1/3. The mixture should look very light and airy.
  • Transfer the batter to your prepared pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the cake is puffed and lightly firm on the surface.
  • If desired, you can dust the cake with powdered sugar for decoration. You can also add a caramel sauce and chopped walnuts, which is how this cake is decorated.

Expert Tips

  • This cake will develop a light, crispy meringue crust on the surface. You can leave it on or you can level it off if you plan on adding frosting to the cake.
  • The cake has a light, soft and bouncy crumb. The finer you are able to make the walnut crumbs, the finer the cake crumbs will be. However, be careful not to pulse the walnuts too much which will cause the nuts to release their oils and become oily.
  • This recipe does work with some other types of nuts like pecans.

More Walnut Recipes

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3 Ingredient Walnut Cake

This walnut cake is soft and moist. It only needs 3 ingredients and doesn't require any flour, butter or oil. The cake can be made ahead of time.
Servings: 12 slices
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 3 cups (340g) fine walnut crumbs, pulse raw walnut halves in a food processor until small/fine crumbs, see note before starting
  • 4 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
  • 1 cup (198g) granulated white sugar, divided

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease the interior and line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch round springform pan with parchment paper.
  • Pulse the walnuts in food processor until they become very small crumbs or coarse flour. Make sure you don't pulse too long because that will release the oils of the nuts and start to turn the mixture into walnut butter. I also prefer to use a food processor rather than blender because a blender can pulse the nuts too much. If you don't have a scale, measure out 3 cups for the recipe.
  • Add egg yolks and ½ cup (98g) sugar to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add in the walnuts and fold them in with a spatula until the walnuts are fully incorporated into the egg mixture. The mixture will be very thick.
  • Add egg whites to a clean mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Using the wire whisk attachment, beat at medium speed until the eggs are foamy, about 1 to 2 minutes. With the machine still running, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until all of it is added. Increase speed and continue to beat until mixture is thick, glossy and medium peaks form, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Working in 3 batches, gently fold 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the walnut mixture with a spatula. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites too much. Repeat with the next 1/3 and then the final 1/3. The batter should look light and airy. Transfer the batter to your prepared cake pan.
  • Bake for about 35-40 minutes. When cake is done it should be lightly firm on top. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then run a spatula around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan and remove the cake and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
  • The surface of the cake will have a thin crispy meringue layer. You can leave the cake as is or you can dust the cake with powdered sugar and top with fruit before serving. If you want to add frosting, you may want to level off the top layer of the cake. This cake is topped with caramel sauce (store bought) and chopped walnuts.

Notes

  • Walnut note: This recipe uses raw walnut halves that have not been salted or roasted. I used Kirkland brand from Costco. If you have a kitchen scale, you can measure 340 grams of walnuts to make the coarse walnut flour and you do not need to add the flour again into measuring cups. If you are not using a scale, I recommend starting with about 4-5 cups of walnut halves. Make sure to measure 3 cups of flour for the recipe if you are not using a scale. When pulsing the walnuts, you want to pulse until they are small crumbs but be careful not to pulse too long, which will release the oils of the walnuts and make the mixture oily and start to resemble walnut butter. While you can also pulse the nuts in a blender, a blender is usually very powerful and may pulse the nuts too much.
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 269kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 24mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 17g, NET CARBS: 18
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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