Squidgy chocolate cake
Sweet prunes, not butter, give this luxurious chocolate cake its irresistible fudgy texture.
Ingredients
Serves: 16
- 125 g (4½ oz) ready-to-eat stoned prunes
- 100 ml (3½ fl oz) brandy
- 125 g (4½ oz) butter, diced
- 150 g (5½ oz) dark chocolate with 70 per cent cocoa solids, roughly chopped
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) caster sugar
- 375 g (13 oz) plain white flour
- 60 g (2¼ oz) self-raising white flour
- 75 g (2¾ oz) cocoa powder
- 1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- To decorate: icing sugar or cocoa powder
- To serve: low-fat berry yoghurt, low-fat iced dessert or low-fat cream, optional
Method
Prep:45min ›
Cook:1hr20min ›
Ready in:2hr5min
- Put a kettle on to boil. Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F, gas mark 3). Grease a 23 cm (9 in) square cake tin and line it with baking paper.
- Purée the prunes in a food processor or with a hand-held mixer, adding 1 tablespoon of hot water if necessary to get a smooth consistency. Scrape the purée into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the brandy, butter, chocolate, sugar and 250 ml (9 fl oz) of boiling water from the kettle. Put the rest of the boiling water into a saucepan over a low heat so that it is simmering and place the bowl on top, making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
- Stir the mixture frequently until the chocolate melts and forms a smooth sauce. Take the bowl off the pan and leave the mixture to cool for 2-3 minutes until it is lukewarm.
- Sift both flours and the cocoa powder into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the chocolate mixture, then add the whole egg and egg whites and beat to a smooth batter.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to stand in the tin on a wire rack for I5 minutes, then turn it out onto the wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust the cake with sifted icing sugar or cocoa powder and cut it into 16 squares. Serve plain or with low-fat yoghurt, iced dessert or cream, if you prefer.
- Variation: for a sweeter, fruitier flavour, use port instead of brandy.
- Tip: this cake will keep well if wrapped in foil.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(2)
Reviews in English (2)
Took shortcuts. I love this recipe, and in this variation I saved time by doing steps 2-4 in the food blender. I used Lindt 70% chocolate (2 bars) and broke it into squares, then used the blender on ice cube setting. The whole mixture came out beautifully. I cooked the mix for the recommended time, and noticed that cracks appeared in the top so I melted the remaining half bar of choc with a litlle butter and just filled in the cracks :-) Gorgeous! - 26 Dec 2010
This was gorgeous but I don't think it could be eaten as a healthy option..way too many calories for that... 5 stars for taste, but had to knock a star off for it not being very healthy! - 20 Apr 2009