Update! Chocolate plum cake with cinnamon...autumn, here we come!

Update!  Since writing this post a couple of days ago I have noticed that the cake has dried out really quickly despite being wrapped in foil and kept in a special cake container.  Very disappointing indeed!  Maybe it would have been better to let the fruit juices seep into the cake after all rather than using the suggested ground almonds.  I thought I'd let you know!
I guess I will use any leftovers to make something my baker uncle used to do when he had spare cake...I will write more about these naughty little treats next week in a new post.  In the meantime, have a good weekend!


Temperatures here have dropped by quite a bit but with the sun still out, it's been a lovely couple of days.

With autumn in the air I was very excited to find a recipe for a lovely chocolate plum cake.  I amended this slightly and added some cinnamon which I think goes very well with both the fruit and chocolate and also with this time of the year.  I could imagine this cake with apricots, peaches or maybe cherries instead of the plums - yum!

I also learned a new trick when I made this - the recipe suggested sprinkling ground almonds onto the dough before putting the fruit on top.  That way the cake doesn't end up soggy with the fruit juice seeping from the plums during baking - great idea I think and it would work well with other cakes too.  I'll have to remember this.

Chocolate plum cake with cinnamon

Chocolate plum cake (makes one 26cm spring form cake)

Ingredients:

• 175g butter, at room temperature (if the butter is a bit cold, simply grate it into a bowl which will automatically soften it)
• 150g sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 350g flour
• 40g cocoa powder (not drinking chocolate)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a little salt
• 100ml milk
• 40g ground almonds
• 600g plums, cut in half & de-stoned
• icing sugar for dusting
• a little butter & flour for greasing and dusting the spring form

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Rub a little butter into a spring form and dust with flour.
3. In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar and eggs until creamy.  Add a little salt.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa and cinnamon and add by the spoonful to the mix.
5. Now add the milk and combine everything to a smooth dough.  Spread the dough into the spring form, smooth the top and dust with the ground almonds.
6. Place the plums on top of the cake, cut side facing upwards.
7. Put the cake on the middle shelf in the oven and bake for 50 minutes - it will be done if a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.  If it gets too dark on top before the baking time is up, simply cover the cake with foil.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool; then take it out of the form and dust with icing sugar.

Serve on its own or with a dollop of whipped cream.