Chocolate Prune Cake... don't knock it before you try it!

Prunes. If you like them, and you are under the age of 60, you are probably in the minority.  Prunes are all too often associated with the geriatric crowd.  Nevertheless, I'm here to share a recipe that will make you reconsider your aversion for/apathy toward those little dried plums with a bad reputation.  Yes, prunes are dried plums... and who doesn't love a good plum?

In my search for what to make with my excess of prunes, I came across this recipe for Chocolate Prune Cake.  If it's good enough for David Lebovitz and his French friends, it's good enough for me :-)

Not only was David's recipe easy to make, but it was also flourless!  I happen to adore the texture of flourless chocolate cakes, and this seemed like the perfect way to transform those sad looking prunes into something fantastic!

Here's what you'll need:

For the prunes:
6 ounces (170 g) pitted prunes, diced into small pieces
1/3 cup (80 ml) rum, or another liquor (I used Southern Comfort)
1 tablespoon sugar (I omitted this due to the sweetness of the Southern Comfort)

For the cake:
12 ounces (340 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used a dark chocolate)
12 tablespoons (6 ounces, 170 g) unsalted butter, cubed
6 large eggs, separated
large pinch of salt
3 tablespoons sugar
Additional soft butter and flour, or cocoa powder, for preparing the pan (I used cocoa powder)


Directions:  

1. Simmer the prunes with the liquor and 1 tbsp. sugar in a small saucepan until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat, cover, and cool.  Note:  I decided to place the prunes and remaining liquid in a food processor and blend until smooth instead of leaving them chunky.  This is all about personal preference.  If you want to be able to identify the prunes, leave them chunky, otherwise, blend away!

2. Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a 9-inch spring-form pan (I used a regular cake pan).  Dust the inside with flour or cocoa powder and set aside.

3. In a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in the prunes and any liquid that is leftover.  Stir the 6 egg yolks into the chocolate mixture.

5.  In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to whip the egg whites with the salt until they begin to hold soft peaks.  Continue whipping, adding the 3 tablespoons of sugar, one at a time, until the whites hold their shape.

6.  Fold 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks of whites are visible.  Don't over-fold!

7.  Pour cake batter into the pan and bake the cake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is set. Let cool completely.

8. Slice and serve plain or with freshly whipped cream lightly sweetened with powdered sugar.  This cake was also amazing served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top :-)

Plain... yet so delicious!  Perfect for all you chocolate lovers out there :-)

With lightly sweet whipped cream dusted with cocoa powder... decadent!

If you need extra convincing, my husband didn't detect the "secret ingredient" in this chocolate cake, and together we didn't have any problem polishing off every last bite!  I think this would be a wonderful holiday desert to share with family and friends.  This cake also happens to be Gluten Free if you use the cocoa instead of the flour for dusting your pan.  Be sure to use a GF liquor if you decide to go with something other than Southern Comfort.  Here's a link to a GF alcoholic beverage guide :-)

Viva la prune!

Librarian turned Foodie