Walnut-Buckwheat Toffee Cakes

These tiny but mighty cakes drenched in caramel bring big sticky toffee pudding energy to the dinner table. They’re rich and dense, with a small cloud of egg whites providing just enough lift to prevent them from being stodgy, plus plenty of brown butter and walnuts to play off the cool, earthy aromas of buckwheat. Buckwheat (despite its name) is actually a robust and toasty seed that pairs particularly well with nuts and chocolate. Look for light (not dark) buckwheat flour made from hulled seeds. Our favorite is Arrowhead Mills.

If you’re feeling formal, serve the cakes one to a plate at the end of a dinner party. Or go wild: Pile all the cakes on a platter with scoops of ice cream, drown it all in sauce, and let everyone go to town. If you don’t want to bother with muffin tins, skip the sauce and bake the batter in an 8" round or square pan. Dust it with powdered sugar and cut into squares once it’s cool. 

Make sure to spray the muffin cups with an even but light spray of nonstick vegetable oil spray. Too much will cause the cakes to rise unevenly.