Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake
Are you looking for a special, healthful treat? Our Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake makes a great snack or dessert.
On a cold winter’s night, serve roasted duck and vegetables, a glass of merlot wine and the pièce de ré·sis·tance, our Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake by the fire.
The Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake is layered thoughtfully with flavors like naturally sweet prunes, honey, applesauce and dark chocolate. There’s a lot of richness in this dense and moist cake.
Loaded with antioxidants, lots of chocolate make you forget that you are eating a good for you dessert! Applesauce helps to create a sweet and soft texture. The nuts add protein, fat and a great crunch.
Let’s be honest here- prunes get a bad rap. That’s for sure. However, these dried plums are high in fiber and potassium. The best part is that prunes compliment the dark chocolate in this recipe, so you won’t even know that they are in there!
The Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake starts by reducing the prunes into a jam consistency. Next, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a blender, puree the prunes. Next add in the sugar, honey, oil, milk, extract and eggs together to form the batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, blending until smooth by hand. Fold in some of the chocolate chips and nuts.
Spread the batter into a prepared cake pan and bake, rotating the pan halfway through so the cake cooks evenly. Do not overbake. Chocolate cake, like brownies, is best when slightly underdone and it will continue to cook with the residual heat after it is out of the oven.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then release onto a cooling rack, so the bottom of the cake becomes the top. Decorate while the cake is still warm.
You can easily adapt this recipe for vegans by substituting the milk, eggs and chocolate chips with the appropriate dietary options.
The Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake is easy for beginners. You will need a full-sized blender for this recipe.
Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake
ingredients:
- ½ cup of prunes, chopped
- 3/4 cup of water
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup of unsweetened milk or dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- ¾ cup of brown sugar
- ¼ cup of honey
- ¼ cup of canola or coconut oil (melted and cooled)
- 1 cup of milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups of dark chocolate chips, divided
- 1 cup of pecans, chopped, divided
instructions:
How to cook Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9” round cake pan with nonstick spray and line the base of the pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper for easy release.
- In a small saucepan, bring the prunes and water to a boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the water has absorbed. The reduced prunes should be a jam consistency.
- In a large sized bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa and espresso powders, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a blender, using the puree speed, reduced prunes. Next add in the sugar, honey, oil, milk, and extract together to form the batter on the mix speed. Add the eggs and blend to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, blending until smooth. Fold in 1 ½ cups of the chocolate chips and ¾ cup of the nuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 27-29 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway point. Do not overbake.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully run a flat knife around the edges of the cake, and release onto a serving plate or pedestal, so the bottom of the cake becomes the top.
- Decorate while the cake is still warm. Let cake cool completely before serving.
- To decorate simply: sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and nuts on top of the cake.
- To decorate as shown in the picture: gently place a 3” or 4” cookie cutter in the center and fill with chocolate chips (use the cookie cutter as a guide, do not cut through the cake). After a several minutes, release the cookie cutter and carefully spread the warm melted chocolate so it forms a circle. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the top. Place the remaining chocolate chips neatly around the rim of the cake. Leave the outer chocolate chips intact and allow the chocolate chips to set.
NOTES:
• For a different spin, try this recipe with reducing ½ cup of prunes and ½ cup of apricots together with 1 ¼ cups of water. Apricots and prunes are often paired together. • Try adding dried cherries or dried pineapple to the mixture. You could also replace the pecans with pistachios. • This is a dense and moist cake. • My cake was finished at 28 minutes. Watch the oven carefully. Do not overbake.
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