Chocolate Plum Cake
The sweet, wine-like flavor of plums or pluots pairs beautifully with chocolate in this moist, single-layer cake.
By Yankee Magazine|Aug 07 2019|
Chocolate Plum Cake
Photo Credit: Michael PiazzaThe sweet, wine-like flavor of plums or pluots pairs beautifully with chocolate in this moist, single-layer cake.
Yield
8 servings
Total Time
1 hour 5 minutes minutesHands-on Time
25 minutes minutes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon plus 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
4 pluots or plums (see “Note,” bottom left), pitted and halved
1 tablespoon plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup almond meal (see “Note,” bottom left)
1/4 cup buckwheat or whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3-1/2 ounces dark chocolate (around 64% cocoa content), melted
1/4 cup heavy cream
Garnish: confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan; then line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside.
In a frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the pluots (or plums), cut side down, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Cook 2 minutes and flip onto the other side. Continue to cook 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the almond meal, buckwheat flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of your food processor, beat the remaining 7 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup sugar until pale in color. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you go. Stir in the melted chocolate and then the heavy cream.
Add the dry ingredients, and stir until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and arrange the sauteed fruit on top, cut side up. Bake until the blade of a sharp knife inserted into the middle comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool 5 minutes before removing it from the pan. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Notes
Pluots (along with apriums, apriplums, plumcots, and the like) are hybrid fruits derived from crosses between apricots and plums. They’re now sold in many supermarkets in the summer, but you can always substitute regular plums if you can’t find them. Almond meal (also called almond flour) is sold in the health-food aisle of many supermarkets; you can substitute other nut meals, or make your own by pulsing blanched almonds in a coffee grinder until finely ground but not yet nut butter. Pass the meal through a sieve; then re-grind any larger almond pieces left behind.
