Black Walnut Cake

I made this cake for Thanksgiving and it was a major hit! I did increase the walnuts to 1 cup and also increased the vanilla to 1 tsp. The recipe makes a large and heavy cake. Nice texture, moist and crispy shell. Will make again...

Ditto what CINDYDRAPER said. Yum Yum! I love black walnut ice cream, so when I saw this recipe, I had to try it. Delish, not too rich. Even my co-worker who hates walnuts said several times that it was really good! Perfect density and texture in my opinion.

My mom made a cake very similar to this one. I don't know where she got the recipe. However she had a topping that consisted of 4 tbl butter and 4 tbl Karo syrup cooked together for about 3 minutes. She alternated whole walnuts and marashino cherries, about 4 or 5 of each, around the top of the cake and then poured the warm mixture of Karo and butter on top of the cake allowing it to drizzle down the side of the cake. Very pretty as well as yummy.

This was quite possibly the best cake I've ever had. I adore homemade pound cake to begin with, and when you add the fabulous flavor of black walnuts, it is really something special. I can't help but wonder if the reviewer who called this recipe "bland" didn't mistakenly use English walnuts instead of the black walnuts that were called for? This is not an in-your-face commercial-tasting cake nor an over-the-top super chocolate, chocolate something. It is the perfect blend of creamy butter, flour, sugar and earthy/mapley black walnuts. I made this for my husband's birthday, and I am going to bake a fresh one for my mother's Christmas present. She knows how much work I put into gathering and processing these black walnuts!

This is a wonderful recipe!! The cake comes out very moist and with a wonderful texture. I made one and it disappeared in no time at all. Now I am repeatedly asked to make it over and over. I would rate it a 6 if possible!!

This cake is simply outstanding. I put in a full cup of chopped black walnuts (because I love them) and added a simple maple flavored glaze while it was still warm. Even if you don't like black walnuts, the basic recipe is still a winner. Unbelievably tender crumb, slightly crispy crust...it's just what I like in a pound cake. I will make this again and again, experimenting with different flavors.

This cake is fantastic...If you like black walnuts you will love it. I added another 1/2cup of walnuts and 1 t. of vanilla. I baked mine for 70 min.

This cake is moist and filled with flavor. Mine was finished in 1 hour. The outside was crispy, almost looked burnt in some spots, but inside was so moist and soft. I did make a few changes: I used regular walnuts because that's what I had at home; I didn't use any shortening at all; I used only used 2 cups of sugar instead of 3; upped the walnuts to 1 cup, and added 1 chopped apple. An excellent cake.

This cake was simple to assemble..I did bring my eggs and butter to room tempature. Not too mapley in flavor, the texture of the cake was great, very poundcake-like. The taste was amazing. I took this too a bbq and everyone said that it was good.

I followed ZMO lead with less sugar (2 cups), chopped apple and no shortening... I only had regular walnuts (from our own walnut tree outside) and this cake is really moist and flavorful... good recipe!

Almost like my mom's recipe. I prefer the crust softer. Black walnuts are hard to find in Texas! It was irritating because at my mom's all I had to do was go pick them up in the back yard! I think I went to 4 stores before I found some, but this recipe definately brought back memories.

Great recipe! This was a huge hit with the family. Thanks for sharing!

Just like my Great-Grandmothers. Nice rich cake with crisp shell and moist inside. Came out perfect! I used 1 full cup of walnuts and did a simple glaze over the top.

This Cake Was Very Good. I Took It To Work, And They Just Loved It. I Even Made A Mistake Of Putting In Regular Walnuts, And It Came Out Just Fine. Next Time I Will Use The Black Walnuts Though. I Will Be Making This Cake Again. Very Easy To Put Together. Thanks From Florida

Cake had a good texture. I was looking to find good recipe with black walnuts. I would make it again, but I couldn't give it 5 stars.

This is the best Nut Cake every. I bake it almost every day right now during Ramadaan for the community. The cake is gone in a flash and people are constantly asking who made that cake and if they can get the recipe.

Texture was fine - it's just a little bland. The family's reaction was "it's okay". I took some into work as I knew they wouldn't eat more at home and I asked my coworkers for their honest opinion: same thing. "Bland". There are too many better recipes out there - this is nothing special. This is the first 5 star recipe on this site that was not a hit for me.

I am going to try this; but since people commented it was "bland" and I like fairly intense flavors; 1) it has no salt, so I will add 1 tsp of sea salt, 2) it doesn't have enough vanilla, so I will double or triple that, if I measure it at all. Usually just squirt it in until it "looks" right. and 3) will double the walnuts,toasted of course; it IS a "walnut" cake after all. But first....I have to go pick up the walnuts out of the pasture, and crack them.

This is a great recipe!! The only thing i added was (2) mashed bananas. Very moist and tasty!! Will make again!!!!

I loved it. It was very yummy.

I made this cake for thanksgiving it was really good

Been making this for 4 years now, never made any changes. It is delicious!!

This by far is the Best walnut cake recipe I've found. The results are outstanding. My husband loved it, I am making it again today.....for the 3rd time :-).Thanks patricia, would be making more from your list of recipes.

This worked out great though I toned down the butter and sugar, and substituted for the shortening.. (bumped up the quantity of walnuts though!). Pl. note the detailed instructions have the correct baking time (1.5 hours), although the total cooking time mentioned on the webpage incorrectly states 30 minutes.

Great cake! I made two changes to this recipe. I increased the amount walnuts to 1 cup diced. I also poured a glaze over the cake after it cooled and added a half cup of nuts on top of the glaze.

Was delicious; not too sweet, but perfect. I added a cup of Black Walnuts. Next time I will add a bit more flavoring.

I followed the recipe exactly except I believe I was using regular walnuts and not black walnuts. Oops! Oh well, it was still delicious :) It tastes of cinnamon, sugar, and nuts. I made this for my grandmother's birthday :) Used my great grandmother's glaze recipe for on top.

I remember my mom made a black walnut cake with a butter creme frosting. I was looking for a black walnut cake recipe and this was amazing. The whole family loved it!!!! It barely had time to cool

Big hit! This was REALLY good. I didn't have black walnuts, just the regular kind and it still tasted great. I used a full cup of walnuts, a generous tsp of vanilla and added a 1/2 tsp of salt. Cake has a beautiful soft crumb, not dense or heavy at all. Thanks for the recipe!

I was weary of making a black walnut cake (requested by my grandfather), but when he unshelled the black walnuts and brought me a cup, I figured I’d give it a try. I probably used about 3/4 cup of walnuts in the cake (I topped the cake with some too), and I upped the cinnamon to 1.5 teaspoons. Other than that I followed the recipe to a T and it was fantastic! There was enough black walnut to distinguish it from other nuts, but it wasn’t overpowering at all. I finished the cake with a vanilla glaze (softened butter, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and milk) and it was a perfect accompaniment, but the cake crusted beautifully so it wasn’t necessary to add icing. I’ll definitely use this recipe again, just not sure when I’ll have black walnuts on hand again ?? (it’s a great recipe, I plan on trying it with some other nuts and maybe raisins).

I read the other reviews and decreased sugar to 2 1/2 cups, think it should be only 2 cups. Increased the black walnuts to one cup. I had searched stores for black walnut extract with no luck. Personally I think the amount of sugar overpowers the taste of the nuts.

I've made this cake several times, but with two changes -- I make it chock full of broken regular walnuts (~3 cups regular walnuts), plus I make this a "cranberry upside down" cake (1/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup dark brown sugar melted and spread in the bottom of the pan; then scatter a bag of fresh cranberries, and pour in the walnut cake mixture and bake). Moist, colorful and delicious for the holidays.

My aunt does not eat cake. I asked her what kind of cake did her mother make for her birthday when she was a child. She said Black Walnut Pound Cake. They had black walnut trees on their farm. I made this for her 96th birthday. I used one cup of walnuts. She loved it. Best Cake Ever!