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1
Butter 3 Nine inch round cake pan and line the bottom of each one with a round of buttered parchment paper.
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2
Dust the pans with flour and shake out any excess.
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3
Preheat oven to 350u00b0F.
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4
In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of granulated sugar until the mixture is doubled in volume and forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted (about 5 minutes).
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5
In a food processor or blender, pulse the walnuts with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until ground fine.
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6
Add the walnuts, the bread crumbs, the coffee and the rum to the yolks and fold gently.
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7
In another bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg white just to stiff peaks.
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8
Gently and gradually fold the whites into the yolk mixture.
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9
Divide the batter among the three cake pans, spreading it evenly and giving each cake pan a good thump against the counter to make sure there are no air bubbles.
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10
Bake the layers 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sides pull away from the pans and the tops spring back when pressed gently.
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11
Cool in pans on racks for ten minutes.
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12
Run a sharp knife round the sides of the layers and carefully invert the layers onto the racks.
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13
Remove and discard parchment paper and allow layers to cool completely.
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14
Make the Coffee Whipped Cream:
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15
In a large, chilled bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons of the cold heavy cream and the instant coffee until coffee is dissolved.
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16
Add remaining cream and confectioner's sugar and beat until cream forms stiff peaks.
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17
This will provide enough whipped cream to fill the two layers and to garnish the top.
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18
You can place the cream for the top in a pastry bag and decorate the top with rosettes.
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19
Garnish with the toasted walnut halves.
