What does our chief perfectionist choose as a birthday treat? This sumptuous coffee and walnut cake, which you, too, can whip up in less than an hour

Today is my birthday, so I’m celebrating with a classic that, for all the sticky tres leches and sophisticated sachertortes I’ve enjoyed in recent years, remains my absolute favourite, my desert island cake: that darling of the WI tea tent, the coffee and walnut sandwich. The great Nigel Slater once named it his last meal on Earth, and I’m hoping to have it for tea.

Prep 30 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 8

Rice noodles topped with a rubble of tempeh and walnuts and tossed in garlic oil and a sweet, salty and tangy hot sauce

Up until now, I was sceptical about viral recipes. Is anyone still making the baked feta pasta from 2021? Has the “marry me chicken” resulted in an uptick in matrimonies? But the tossed noodles (guay tiew klook) currently doing the rounds on Thai social media platforms really whet my appetite. In short, they’re noodles tossed with mince, garlic oil and a dark, sweet, salty and tangy hot sauce, and they just make so much sense that they really couldn’t not be great. I love them, so I’m passing on the baton to you using a combination of crumbly tempeh and walnuts instead of the mince.