This nut cake is loaded with walnuts and cinnamon flavor. It is moist, dense, and has lots of nuts in every bite.
Nut cake can be enjoyed on its own or paired with a cup of coffee or tea for a delightful treat. Whether served as a dessert or enjoyed as a snack, nut cake is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth craving.
This cake is topped with powdered sugar for a beautiful holiday look.
This cake is perfect for the holidays and is a staple in many people's homes during the holidays! You can add raisins and more kinds of nuts and top it with caramel sauce for a warmer look and flavor!
We love making cinnamony desserts all year round! If you do as well, try our apple upside-down cake, peach crisp with canned peaches, lotus biscoff donuts, and moist honey cake.
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Why this recipe works
- Flavor- This cake is loaded with nuts and has a cinnamony and warm flavor which is perfect for the holidays and fall time.
- Simple- This cake is made with super simple ingredients you can find in any grocery store.
- Beautiful look- It is super easy to decorate this cake, simply by sprinkling it with powdered sugar or drizzling it with maple syrup.
- Versatile- You can add your favorite nuts and dried fruit to make this cake your own!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of this dessert.
Eggs- you will need eggs for this recipe. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Cake flour– cake flour makes this cake tender, super moist, and soft. Use your favorite brand of cake flour or make homemade cake flour!
Baking powder– baking powder allows the cake to rise. Make sure that your baking powder is not expired.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Brown sugar- brown sugar compliments the cinnamon flavor. You can use light or dark brown sugar.
Cinnamon and nutmeg- we love adding cinnamon and nutmeg to this cake. You can use freshly grated nutmeg or dried ground nutmeg for this.
Sour cream- use full-fat sour cream for this recipe. It is important to get your sour cream to room temperature.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Buttermilk– gives the cake extra moisture. You can make your own buttermilk if you don’t have one on hand. Simply mix a cup of milk with a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Nuts- you will need 2 cups of nuts for this cake. I used chopped walnuts but you can use your favorite nuts like pecans, or almonds!
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180c (350f). Butter the bundt cake pan with room-temperature butter and flour to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.
Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, kosher salt, and vanilla extract and mix with an electric hand mixer until it's creamy.
Add the room-temperature eggs, oil, and mix until combined. Add the full-fat sour cream and mix well until well combined.
Add ½ of the flour and the baking powder, and ½ of the buttermilk, and mix until almost combined.
Add the rest of the flour and the buttermilk and mix until almost combined. Add the chopped and toasted walnuts and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible. Don't overmix!
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in a 180c (350f) oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before flipping the cake. Top the pan with a plate, flip the cake, and tap the cake pan to release the cake from the pan.
Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar or caramel sauce, serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Butter your bundt pan with butter and sprinkle flour to prevent sticking. This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cake will release easily from the pan.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making this cake, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in your mixture.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to flip this cake as soon as it's ready. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before flipping the cake. This step prevents the cake from falling apart.
Faq's
It is very easy to keep a bundt cake moist. Simply, store it in an airtight container or cover it with a few layers of plastic wrap. These steps keep the cake from drying out.
This cake will last up to 3 days at room temperature. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or foil to prevent it from drying out.
You can serve this cake next to a cup of coffee or tea with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top or with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream next to a warmed slice of the cake! I like microwaving every slice for 10-20 seconds to make it warm and soft. (for day 2 and day 3 of the cake)
Storing
It’s okay to store this cake at room temperature. Make sure that you store this cake in an airtight container so it won’t dry out.
Freezing
This cake is very easy to freeze. After baking, let the cake cool to room temperature, transfer it into a freezer-friendly Ziploc bag, or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw: place the cake in the refrigerator overnight or place it a room temperature for a few hours.
Substitutions
Dairy-free - If you are dairy-free, replace the butter with vegan butter or plant-based butter. Also, replace the buttermilk with vegan buttermilk or plant-based milk and replace the sour cream with plant-based sour cream.
Gluten-free- to make this cake gluten-free, swap the flour with gluten-free flour. I never tried this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work just fine.
Variations
Spices- add your favorite spices for cinnamon-spiced desserts! Like nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin spice, ginger, etc.
Raisins- you can add raisins to the cake as it's very popular for nut cake. Add 1 or more cups of raisins. If you have time, let the raisins soak in warm water for an hour to make them soft.
Caramel sauce- top this cake with caramel sauce for a delicious caramel flavor!
Equipment
- Bundt cake pan
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
More bundt cake recipes
Cinnamon bundt cake- This cinnamon bundt cake is moist, buttery, and has a tender crumb. It is made with a cinnamon swirl and topped with a velvety cream cheese frosting.
Carrot bundt cake- This carrot bundt cake is made with a soft and moist spiced carrot cake, topped with cream cheese glaze and chopped pecans!
Peach cobbler pound cake- This peach cobbler pound cake is extra soft and moist, is made with all the flavors that peach cobbler has. It has a buttery cinnamon peach topping, and is made with peach puree inside the cake batter!
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📖 Recipe
Easy Nut Cake
Ingredients
- 150 g Butter softened
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 5 Eggs
- ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
- ½ cup Sour cream full fat
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 3 cups Cake flour
- 3 teaspoon Baking powder
- 2 cups Walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f). Butter the bundt cake pan with room temperature butter and flour to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, kosher salt, and vanilla extract and mix with an electric hand mixer until it's creamy.
- Add the room temperature eggs, oil, and mix until combined.
- Add the full fat sour cream and mix well until well combined.
- Add ½ of the flour and the baking powder, and ½ of the buttermilk, and mix until almost combined.
- Add the rest of the flour and the buttermilk and mix until almost combined. Add the chopped and toasted walnuts and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible. Don't overmix!
- Pour the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake in a 180c (350f) oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before flipping the cake. Top the pan with a plate, flip the cake and tap the cake pan to release the cake from the pan.
- Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar or caramel sauce, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Butter your bundt pan with butter and sprinkle flour to prevent sticking. This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cake will release easily from the pan.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making this cake, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in your mixture.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to flip this cake as soon as it's ready. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before flipping the cake. This step prevents the cake to fall apart.
Michelle
I tried it with yogurt (whole milk Greek)instead of buttermilk and sour cream and regular flour instead of cake flour. Still rose well and nice and moist! Also, since it was summer, I also tried it with zest of two oranges and and orange glaze instead of the cinnamon/nutmeg— also delicious!
Sabine
I left out the butter and white sugar. It turned out great. Ideal for butter and jam.