This cake is an enigma. Whatever you think it is, that’s what it’s not. Is it a loaf cake? It’s certainly shaped like one, but it’s texture is soft and fudgy. Is it a brownie, then? Hmm, it’s chocolatey like a brownie, but not as palate clinging or rich.
What about a fruitcake? Nah, nowhere near enough fruit to be one, though it does share a hint of booziness with fruit cakes. The prunes and Pedro Ximinez (a gorgeous, dark Spanish sherry) add plenty of complexity and a little luxury. This cake is really not cooperating in terms of being easily categorised.
When would you eat such an elusive cake? For some reason, I always do the same thing with this baby. I slice the whole cake up on the very day it’s baked, and then I wrap each slice individually, and throw them in the freezer.
And then you eat it at elusive times.
Like the day before you go grocery shopping and you’ve been eating nothing but 2 minute noodles because there’s no food in the house, and you suddenly remember that there is a lingering slice of damp chocolatey cake in the freezer.
Or when you decide to go on a last minute adventure with your man friend, and so you stick a few slices in your bag before you leave. And then, in the midst of a hike into the middle of nowhere, surprise chocolate cake break!
I guess the reason I love this so much is because it’s so great to have hanging around. The booze, prunes, and the very wet cake batter mean that this baby seems not only to keep forever, but it actually tastes better the day after it’s baked. And it freezes and defrosts like a dream.
Not only that, but with a dollop of creme fraiche it’s a crazy elegant, grown up dessert. This cake is everything! Do you have a recipe like that, that seems to transcend the usual eating constraints? If so, lay it on me, because they’re the best ones!
xx Sarah.
- 1 cup (100g) prunes
- ⅓ cup (85ml) Pedro Ximinez sherry
- ⅔ cup (170ml) water
- 4oz (100g) 70% dark chocolate
- 2 sticks (230g) butter, at room temperature.
- 1 +1/2 cups (300g) brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 + ⅓ cups (200g) plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and line a 9x5in loaf pan (23x12cm).
- Chop the prunes, and place them in a small saucepan with the Pedro Ximinez and water. Bring up to the boil and turn off.
- Chop the chocolate, and melt it (I put it in a bowl above the prunes and just leave it for a few minutes).
- Cream the butter and brown sugar together and then add the eggs, beating well to incorporate them.
- Pour in the melted chocolate and mix until just combined.
- Mix together the plain flour and baking powder, and add this mixture a few spoonfuls at a time, alternating with the hot prune, Pedro and water mixture.
- When all of the flour, prunes and liquid are incorporated into the batter (it will be fairly liquid), scrape it into the greased loaf tin and bake at 170C for an hour.
- It's ready when a skewer inserted comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
Oh wow, that looks divine x
Boozy Chocolate Cake.. is my kinda cake..
Boozy chocolate cake sounds super! And I also love cakes that taste better the next day. anticipation makes it taste all the better.
Loving all that chocolate happening up there, LOVING!
Oh this is lovely. Boozy cake, two words that go perfectly together…
I’m such a prune fan! This cake sounds like my dream!
What a great way to incorporate fruit!
i thought I’ve heard before about pedro ximenez… could not associate to the sherry though…. ehehe i was really curious to know how you could fit a “pedro” in the cake :) the cake has the “right” density and i like that’s not too brownie alike.
DREAMY. I want!!
I love a cake that keeps like a dream…so considerate! Also, chocolate + booze. Yes, Please.
I totally feel those elusive times. I’ve been living off leftovers that my mom gave me when I visited home a few days ago and I’m about to run out tonight and now I don’t now what to do, cus all I have in my fridge are dessert things! But cheesecake filling counts as dinner right?
The texture of this cake looks so perfect! Love that you keep slices in the freezer…genius! :)
Would love to make this cake. Looks lusciously chocolaty and rich!
Did you use cups and oz. when measuring out the ingredients, or grams and mls?
The reason I’m asking is I’m not sure which ones to follow as some of the weight measurements do not seem to quite correspond to their supposed volume equivalents : 1 cup is about 237-240 ml, so 1/3 cup would be 80 ml max, and 2/3 cup – 160 ml; 4 oz are about 115 g (which is correctly reflected in the recipe’s weight of butter), rather than 100g for 4 oz chocolate. also 200 g for 1 1/3 cups flour seems to be quite a lot, as the “heaviest” cup I”ve seen so far (generous deep-and-sweep) was 5 oz (about 142 g).
To be on the safe side, I would rather know how much you used to get a successful result. Can’t wait to try it.
Many thanks.
Lena
Hi Lena,
I’m not sure where you are in the world, as cup measures vary dramatically. Based on average US, UK and Australian measurements, a cup is usually around 250mls. An ounce is about 27g, usually rounded to either 25 or 30g. Depending on the ingredient I will round up or down (hence the different weights for butter and chocolate). Based on several sources, and my own crazy testing, a cup of flour is usually around 150g (there’s a lot of room for error with volume measures) – so 1 + 1/3 cups would be on average 200g.
I usually use a crazy mix of imperial and metric measurements when I bake, but for the most consistent results I would always recommend using the metric measurements.
Thank you for your comment – I think I will add this info to my site as I think a lot of people would find it really helpful. I’d love to hear how you go with the cake!
xx
Sarah