A plum cake is good for all occasions, but perfect for Christmas! It is simple and the recipe might strike you as a bit different from traditional fruit cake recipes, because it is :) Developed by my daughter, this cake includes dark chocolate and wine which come together to create a flavour so divine and a cake so moist, it is indeed a Christmas Special!
This recipe was requested by many of my subscribers/viewers, so thank you all!
The inclusion of other dried fruits is up to you; I recommend roasting nuts rather than soaking them in wine as they impart a slight bitterness to the wine (which is why I don't add walnuts to the wine). The raisins need to be softened, so prepare a solution of warm water and sugar (about 2 tablespoons) and let the raisins remain completely immersed in that for 20 minutes.
For weight conversions you may refer to this:
www.kingarthurbaking.com/lear...
100 grams of Dark Chocolate, chopped
100 grams of Prunes, chopped
50 grams of Raisins (seedless; that have been soaked in a warm solution of water and sugar for 20 minutes)
120 ml or 1/2 cup of Port Wine (or any sweet wine)
Heat the wine add the fruits and chocolate, mix and set aside till needed. The period of time till its addition into the batter is sufficient to soak.
40 grams of Walnuts, chopped (not to added to the wine)
...
Grind the following spices:
1 inch of dried Ginger
1/4 piece of Nutmeg
2 inches of Cinnamon
20 ml Oil
30 grams (or 4 tablespoons) of Cocoa Powder
(make a paste of this with the ground spices)
...
3 whole Eggs
100 grams or 1/2 cup of Sugar
100 grams or 1/4th cup + 3 tbsp of Salted butter (melted)
120 grams or 1 cup of All-purpose flour
1&1/2 teaspoon of Baking powder
The spices strengthen the flavour of the wine. Their quantities can be adjusted and tweaked to your liking.
Preheat the oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.
Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 45-50 minutes, or till an inserted skewer comes out clean.
*Once baked, allow the cake to remain in the oven’s heat for 15 minutes, then open the oven door and let it cool gradually. This prevents excess shrinkage/contraction of the cake.
This cake tastes best when allowed to rest.
**When properly cooled, wrap in parchment and cover with a piece of cloth and let it rest overnight (basically, 10 hours or more); this locks up the moisture, allowing the flavour and texture to develop even further. After unmoulding, keep the baking parchment attached to the bottom, it acts as a seal to retain moisture (I took it off my cake for the purpose of the video). It can remain at room temperature for a week to 10 days or more if properly kept in a cool, dark and dry place; to ensure it doesn’t dry/spoil, keep it wrapped in parchment and cloth, allowing it to breathe occasionally.
Further, it can be refrigerated for weeks - just enclose it in two layers of parchment and then double layer of cling wrap after it has cooled completely.
Music Credits:
(all downloaded from the site incomptech.com)
(all 3) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Silent Night by ‪@incompetech_kmac‬
Angels We Have Heard on High (piano) by ‪@incompetech_kmac‬
Deck the halls A by ‪@incompetech_kmac‬