Recipe: Prune Cake

Doesn't it look delicious? It is, too. This is a family secret recipe, a prune cake with a small amount of cocoa (to darken it), that is moist, delicious and yet fairly healthy. The method used in this recipe is similar to a sticky toffee date pudding and produces the same soft and loose crumb texture. I'm not a prune fan but it is so, so good, chock full of smooth, sweet fruit and then just a little decadent with the chocolate. A huge hit at home and I would think, very acceptable for older folk and kids.

Ingredients:
320 grams pitted prunes
250 ml water
200 grams all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
50 grams cocoa powder
230 grams butter, room temperature
210 grams caster sugar
5 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Boil the prunes in the water until the prunes soften. Strain the boiled prunes to reserve 160 ml of juice. Allow the prunes to cool, then chop finely.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius.
3. Sieve the flour, baking soda and cocoa powder separately. Mix them together and sieve again.
4. Prepare a 7-inch by 10-inch baking pan. Using a paper towel, spread a thin layer of butter on the bottom and sides of the pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spread with butter again. Dust the pan with flour and discard any excess flour.
5. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and caster sugar together until pale yellow and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix until creamy. Do not overbeat. If the mixture curdles, add a spoonful of the flour mixture and resume mixing.
7. Add the vanilla extract to the prune juice.
8. Fold the flour mixture and prune juice into the batter. You can use a mixer on low speed or fold by hand.
9. Add the flour mixture alternately with the reserved prune juice. Mix well each time and always end with the flour mixture.
10. Fold in the chopped prunes, mix well and pour into the baking pan.
11. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.
12. When the cake is ready, remove from the oven to cool for about 5 minutes in the baking pan, before inverting the cake to cool over a wire rack.
13. The cake is best served at room temperature after resting overnight.

* A huge thanks to M. for the gorgeous photo.