Chocolate cake with dried plums and coffee

Advent :) I couldn't wait for December 1st :) Today I officially start the Christmas recipe season and with it the first "window" of the Advent calendar. Beautiful and delicious chocolate cake with prunes and coffee :) Did you like it? Do you admit that it came out like a fairy tale? ;)

The theme of the cake is a winter forest. I made Christmas trees out of chocolate and added some gold food coloring. I used crushed meringue for the icing. I added some sugar snowflakes and pearls... and you judge for yourself :)

The cake is really delicious in taste. Not too sweet - I would say - a little dry. Instead of coffee, you can soak the plums in alcohol (I avoid alcohol). I recommend cherry liqueur or another fruit drink for this purpose. Then do not add sugar to the alcohol - it will overpower the sweetness of the soaked plums and will overwhelm the sponge cake.

Cake pan 26 cm

Ingredients:

• Sponge cake:
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup icing sugar for baking
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa

Cream:

• 500 ml heavy cream
• 500 g mascarpone
• 200 g dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 firm cream

Additionally:

• 200 g dried plums
• 200 ml strong coffee
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Chocolate frosting for decoration

Make strong coffee and soak the plums in it for 2 hours. Then cut the plums into small pieces and add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the remaining coffee (you can heat it a little so that the sugar dissolves completely. The coffee will be like a punch.

Sponge cake: Separate the egg whites from the yolks and beat until stiff. Pour the sugar in batches and mix until dissolved. Then add one yolk at a time. Finally, pour the sifted flour and cocoa in batches and mix well with a wooden spoon. Pour the finished dough into a greased and paper-lined cake mold. Bake the sponge cake at 170 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Remove the hot cake from the oven and drop it on the floor (into the mold) from a height of 40 cm. When it has cooled, remove the cake from the mold and cut it into 3 layers.

Cream: Melt the chocolate in a water bath and let it cool. Pour the cream into a bowl and add the mascarpone, whipped cream and powdered sugar. Mix everything well until thick. - A homogeneous cream is formed. Then we add the melted chocolate and mix again. We set aside 1/3 of the cream (it will be used to spread the cake), and add the chopped plums to the rest; mix and leave the two masses in the refrigerator for an hour.

How to assemble the cake: We pierce the first layer with coffee and sugar and spread 1/2 of the cream with plums. We cover it with the second sponge cake and repeat the process. We put the third layer on top and spread the cream without plums over the entire cake. We decorate the cake with chocolate chips and, for example, sugar granules. Before serving, let the cake cool for several hours (or preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.

Edit This Article