Petite Hiwaij Walnut Coffee Cakes are baked with warming spices, sour cream, and a delicate streusel topping.
I am here to tell you the story of the girl who cried cake.
One day not so long ago, more specifically…yesterday…..I was coordinating with my friend, Danielle, for a late night tea date. She specifically requested to come over to my house because of the apparent unspoken rule in town that my house “has good snacks.”
I fought back, insisting that just because I bake it doesn’t mean I always just happen to have mounds of delicious treats lying around at the ready. There is more to me than cake! More to me than being covered in flour on a daily basis! And then I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Well,” I began slowly….”I don’t have anything really… but I do have emergency coffee cake in my freezer….”
I was done. Danielle won.
I am a doomsday prepper of baked goods, it’s true. When the apocalypse happens, you can rest assure I will have scones to go with it. I encourage you all to become baked goods doomsday preppers along with me. Danielle’s insistence reminded me about my golden rule; to always have something “just in case.” Just in case someone stops in for a quick afternoon cup of coffee, or an unexpected afternoon of company. You need to always be at the ready with that “little something” to go along with a cup of coffee or tea.
Fall in love with Petite Hiwaij Walnut Coffee Cakes!
My petite hawaij walnut coffee cakes are for those moments where you “need something” with your coffee. These not-too-sweet coffee cakes are folded with sour cream and warmed with the richness of walnuts and spices and covered with crispy streusel topping.
I chose to create this recipe with coffee hawaij; a middle eastern spice blend of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom that is normally added to coffee. It’s earthy, warm, the perfect blend to steep in your morning coffee, add to baked goods, and even to sprinkle over oatmeal. So why not add it to coffee cake? The hawaij transforms these mini, unassuming cakes into lush, delicate bites you will want to share with your closest friends over afternoon coffee.
This recipe makes 8 mini loaves; each are the prefect size for two (or one…if you are hungry). These petite coffee cakes taste the best the day they are baked, but can keep for three days in a container (at room temperature) or frozen for 2 months.
Petite Hiwaij Walnut Coffee Cakes
Equipment
- Mini loaf pan with 8 wells
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ¾ cup 75 g walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
- 1½ cups 190 g all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Hiwaij for coffee spice
- 180 grams unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup raw sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 210 g sour cream
For the streusel topping:
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Hiwaij for coffee spice
- 4 tablespoons butter cold
- 7 g toasted walnuts finely chopped (once chopped, equals ¼ cup)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- On a rimmed baking sheet, spread out the walnuts, and toast in the oven until slightly fragrant (about 4 minutes). (Note: put the walnuts for the streusel topping to one side of the cookie sheet so you know how much to add.)
- Remove the walnuts from the oven and allow them to cool. Finely chop the walnuts and set aside.
- To make the streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, hawaij and mix to combine. Cut in ½ inch pieces of butter and toss with the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or moving your thumbs and fingers in snapping motion, rub the butter with the dry ingredients until pea sized crumbs form. Add the finely chopped walnuts and toss well to combine. Set the bowl aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and hawaij. Stir to combine. Add the chopped walnuts. Stir to combine.
- Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Cream the butter and raw sugar on medium until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and beat them until well incorporated. You may need to pause the mixer to scrape down the bowl.
- Add the vanilla and mix just until combined.
- Turn the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Turn off the mixer, remove the bowl from the mixer housing and add the sour cream. Using a spatula, slowly fold the sour cream into the batter until just incorporated and no white streaks of sour cream remain. The batter will be thick.
- Carefully spoon the batter into a prepared mini loaf pan with 8 wells.
- With a spatula, gently smooth the top of the batter.
- Divine the streusel topping over the cakes.
- Place the mini loaf pan in the oven for 30-33 minutes, until the toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly.
- Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pan then carefully turn them out on a wire rack to continue cooling.
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