Chocolate, Orange and Prune Cake with Orange & Maple Frosting

So our lovely little lady has turned two this week. Yey! It’s definitely time for cake (with ‘two dandles’ as A-L likes to tell us).

I wanted to create a cake that A-L could take into nursery to celebrate her big day. I like the nursery staff so didn’t want to create a cake that would lead to a sugar infused frenzy and hyperactive children causing chaos in an otherwise calm toddler room. Thus, I set off on a baking experiment. After trying out a few weird and wonderful combinations, I’m proud to present the winning recipe: Chocolate, Orange and Prune Cake with Orange and Maple Frosting. The normal rules apply: this recipe has no refined sugar, is relatively easy to pull together (although the prunes need soaking time) and I tried to include some nutritional elements (i.e prunes). The resulting cake is chocolatey but fruity, moist but not stodgy, sweet but not too sweet. The frosting finishes it off nicely but the cake can also be served without it if you desire.

Happy Birthday A-L xx

Ingredients

For the Chocolate, Orange and Prune Cake:

• 350g dried prunes, chopped
• 250ml orange juice
• zest of 1 orange
• 150g butter
• 70g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 200g self raising flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 3 eggs

For the Orange & Maple Frosting:

• 200g cream cheese
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• zest of 1 orange
• 2-3 tbsp orange juice

Instructions

1. Put the chopped prunes in a bowl and pour over the orange juice. Mix in the orange zest. Cover and leave the prunes to soak for at least a couple of hours or overnight. They will be ready when the orange juice has been absorbed and the prunes are soft and juicy (see photo).
2. When the prunes are ready, take half of the mixture and blend into a smooth puree (as smooth as you can get it! See photo below for the texture that I achieved). Set both prune mixtures to one side whilst you make the cake mixture.
3. Sift the self raising flour and cocoa into a large bowl. Use a balloon whisk to combine.
4. Slowly melt the butter, chocolate and maple syrup in a small pan. Stir continually and warm until all the ingredients have melted into a silky chocolate sauce. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour. Add the eggs. Stir until well combined.
6. Now add the pureed prune mixture and then the chopped soaked prunes. Stir well. The mixture will be quite firm (see photo).
7. Using baking paper, line a round cake tin (I used a 22cm, loose bottom tin and it worked well) or loaf tin (this also worked well but need a bit longer to cook). Transfer the cake mixture into your tin and smooth the surface.
8. Bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes. The cake is ready when the top is firm and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Keep an eye on the cake as you don’t want to over cook it because it will dry out (and loose all that juicy pruneness!).
9. Whilst the cake is cooking, prepare the frosting. Beat the cream cheese together with the orange zest, orange juice and maple syrup.
10. Once the cake is cooked, leave it to cool completely before applying a nice thick layer of the frosting. Enjoy the cake with celebrations, candles and tea!

Nutritional Highlights: Prunes are the main highlight in this recipe. They are a good source of fibre and minerals such as Potassium, Vitamin K and Copper. Apparently prunes have a low GI rating so release their sugars gradually. First served at: 24 months A-L rating: ‘More’. A-L loved this cake which is good because it was created for her. Her Nonna and Babi also loved this cake. I was quite partial to a slice too. Freezer friendly? Maybe without the frosting but we ate it all so I haven’t tried to freeze it. Adult adaption: Nice as it is.