Wednesday 11 April 2012

Dark Chocolate Cake with Plums


Ah Chocolate Cake, I am forever seeking a new variation on the most desirable of cakes. This one came about because I wanted to try a recipe with a higher proportion of flour than normal, in the hopes that it would support the weight of a fruity topping. As you can see I am able to confirm that it did :-)


Dark Chocolate Cake with Plums
Ingredients
120g butter, softened
120g caster sugar
160g self raising flour
20g cocoa powder
2 eggs
40g 85% cocoa chocolate, chopped into little chunks
2 large plums

Method
- Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180C. Grease and base line a deep 7"/18cm tin. I used my new PushPan from Lakeland.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder and eggs and beat until well combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chunks.
- Spoon into the tin (it will be quite stiff) and level. Slice the plums finely and arrange neatly on the top of the cake.
- Bake the cake for around 35-40 minutes (but here my notebook fails me, these timings are from memory - the cake may need a little longer).
- Allow to cool a little before removing from the tin.
- Enjoy!


In all, a pretty delicious cake. It would be lovely served warm for dessert with some warm plum compote and a scoop of creme fraiche, but it was pretty good just eaten as it was for afternoon tea. As you'd expect the cake didn't taste of plums but they made for a good textural contrast to the top of the cake, and looked attractive too. The cake itself was soft and inviting, and the chocolate chips were well dispersed through the cake mixture. Biting down on a little piece of 85% cocoa chocolate in a cake is my idea of pleasure, so it was an excellent addition to the cake. Mmmm, chocolate cake!

8 comments:

Suelle said...

This sounds a delicious cake! I wonder if some chopped prunes in the batter would make it a fruitier taste (if you wanted it to taste fruitier!).

Baking Addict said...

Great idea, never thought of using plums. The cake looks soft and light and it certainly held the weight of the fruits!

Phil in the Kitchen said...

Yum - it looks great. I don't think I've ever used plums and chocolate together in a cake - I'm obviously missing out.

Choclette said...

Oh yes, plums in chocolate cake have got to be good. I have used prunes in chocolate cake as Suelle suggests, but it makes for quite a different texture.

Alicia said...

Plums and chocolate is such a great idea! Yum!

Dipika @ The Very Hungry Baker said...

This looks lovely! I'm wondering if it might also work as an upside down cake, with a nice sugary, crunchy topping over the plums?

Caroline said...

Suelle - I guess chopped prunes would work, but I suppose I wasn't really after a fruitier cake, just a pretty one!

Ros - definitely one of my more successful experiments. I was really pleased with the way the little chunks of chocolate held too!

Phil - thanks for commenting. Yes, plums and chocolate are a pretty good combo in my book.

Choclette - I haven't really used prunes with chocolate, but have heard that it's a good combination, I must try it some time!

Alicia - thanks! It was yum!

Dipika - I guess it might work as an upside down, but it would end up looking very different!

Wisconsin Responsible Beverage Server said...

I can't say no to that fruity chocolate cake. This looks all so yummy. Thanks for sharing.

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