Maple Walnut Layer Cake

Walnut cake layered with maple cream

Prep Time: 30 mins

Oven Time: 20 mins

Chilling Custard: 2 hrs

Total Time: 2 hrs 50 mins

Servings: 1 9-inch layer cake

In a medium-size saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.
Using a handheld or stand mixer, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and maple syrup until sugar is dissolved and eggs are pale.
Add the flour and cornstarch to the egg mixture to make a thick paste.
Continue to whisk and incrementally add the milk to the egg mixture. The slow addition while whisking will temper the eggs and prevent them from scrambbling.
Once you have incorporated the milk and eggs, pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium heat, continuously whisk until it is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon - about 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Once the butter is melted, transfer to a clean bowl and place either plastic wrap or parchment paper right on top of the maple custard base. This will prevent a skin from forming. Allow the cream to cool to room temperature. Then chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
After 2 hours, take the maple custard base out of the fridge and stir to smooth out any lumps. Then whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled maple custard base.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare cake pans by greasing and lining with parchment paper (see note 1 below for number of pans)
In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the all-purpose flour and baking powder.
Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy - about 3-5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time
In a small bowl, mix together the milk and vanilla.
Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix on low speed. Add in the milk. Then add the remaining flour mixture, mix until smooth.
Stir in the finely chopped walnuts.
Pour batter evenly into cake tins and bake until golden brown (see note 2 below for timing).
Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes in cake pan. Then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Use a serrated knife to level any uneven cake layers.
Place one layer flat-side down on a cake stand. Top with ⅓ of the maple cream. Repeat with the next two layers. On the fourth layer, place the cake top-side down. This will ensure a completely flat top.
Dust with powdered sugar and decorate with whole walnuts.

The cake is made up of four round layers. I made my cake with 9-inch cake pans, but you can use 8-inch as well. Since I have three 9-inch round cake pans, I had to do a little math while dividing the batter. I poured half the batter into the deeper cake pan. And I split the remaining batter equally between the two shallow pans.
I had to adjust the baking time for the larger cake. The smaller cakes baked in 20 minutes, and the larger cake baked in 40 minutes. Once the cakes cooled, I used a serrated knife to cut the larger cake in half.