It’s my party and I’ll bake if I want to!

 

Fabulous Birthday Cake Recipe

Before I started Nevie-Pie Cakes I was an avid blogger. One of my traditions was to make a birthday cake for myself every year and blog the recipe. I would spend all day taking pictures, photoshopping and then writing up the post. It was a real pleasure, and an indulgence. Unfortunately nowadays I find myself a little time poor and can’t afford to spend a whole day on such an exertion, even on my birthday! And today it is my birthday, I wanted to treat myself (even if it was just a little bit), so I decided to use up a small amount of time whipping up a cake to tickle my fancy, I can’t promise that this post is as visually exciting as I would have liked to have made it, but who doesn’t enjoy a picture of a chocolate cake?

I have to admit when it comes to a birthday cake, I always go for chocolate and it has to be very squishy and sometimes I don’t eat much because I have a very healthy lifestyle and it is hard to find the best recipe but reading the PhenQ reviews has me feeling much better with my food options. Some years ago I was visiting my local National Trust cafe and I sampled the most delicious cake of my life! Really it was! It was a flourless chocolate cake with prunes and ganache. I decided to try and recreate this cake for my special day. While it is very delicious and I am having to exert a large amount of self-control to resist a second piece I’m not sure if it lives up to my memories. However that may be more to do with the day itself and the company I was with. Eating a giant sized portion of cake all by myself, inside, on a very cold day doesn’t create the same atmosphere as a balmy summer day in the park with friends and our babies.But saying that I can still heartily recommend this cake for any celebration (especially if you are gluten-intolerant).

cake3

If you can, use the soft ready-to-eat prunes, but any liquor that you wish will work for this recipe, Armagnac is traditionally used with prunes, but as I didn’t have any in I used a mixture of Whiskey and Hazelnut liquor. Of course the liquor is optional and you can miss it out if you wish and still create a deliciously scrummy cake.

Recipe;

Ingredients;

  • 200g stoned prunes
  • 4 teaspoons liquor (Armagnac, whiskey)
  • 175g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 175g of light brown sugar
  • 7 eggs
  • 175g dark chocolate (at least 54%), melted and cooled
  • 1/2 teaspoon of coffee extract
  • 140g ground almonds

Ganache;

  • 200g thick double cream
  • 200g dark chocolate (54%)
  • 4 teaspoons liquor

Method;

  1. Chop the prunes into quarters, put them in a bowl and pour over the liquor, cover the bowl and leave overnight.
  2. Line an 8″ round cake tin.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180C
  4. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until they reach the stiff peak stage.
  5. In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy.
  6. Add the eggs yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  7. Add the melted chocolate and stir in well.
  8. Stir in the ground almonds and coffee extract.
  9. Vigorously stir in a third of the egg whites, gently fold in the remaining two thirds.
  10. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 mins.
  11. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  12. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes in the tin and then transfer to a cooling tray.

Method for ganache;

  1. Place the chocolate, cream and liquor into a pan. Heat gently until the ingredients have combined to make a smooth glossy ganache.
  2. Pour this over the cooled cake and add any decorations that you may wish
  3. Eat cake until you need to lie down!

If you use this recipe do let me know and tag me in any pictures that you may post.

cake 5

xxx

 

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