Brandy Prune Cake

I was craving for something decadent the other day and was actually planning on making a really rich chocolate cake, perhaps the flourless type. But then I learned we ran out of chocolate! Ugh! Bordering on a nervous breakdown, I grabbed the remianing bottle of brandy on the pantry and opened my aunt's moldy recipe box. I was hoping to come across a recipe calling for copious amounts of alcohol. I was not disappointed when this old acquaintace popped out of the files.

This cake brings back memories of the 80s. Not that I am capable of remembering much of it! LOL! Not many bake shops offered this cake during those years, at least not Red Ribbon and Goldilocks, but mostly specialty cake stores and hotels instead.

The texture of this cake is reminiscent of a fluffy Food for the gods, yet has some other-wordly characters to it. The cake is typically doused with quality brandy before being iced with a prune buttercream. The prunes are really sweet, yet they retain a fruity flavor, unlike dates. It is a truly indulgent treat!

A picture of the recipe shows that the index card where the recipe was written may even be older than I am. Reading it is even more disturbing: the person who came up with this recipe is so obsessive-compulsive that she calls for 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 cup evap + 1 tablespoon vinegar. I rounded off all ingredients to the nearest whole or half.

Cake

Prepare the prune paste: chop 1 1/2 cup of prunes and boil with 1/2 cup of water (or more) and 1/4 cup brandy. Add more water or brandy so that liquid barely covers the prunes on the pan. Simmer until half of this liquid has evaporated. Turn off heat and let cool, mixing occasionally. The prune pieces will soften, and remaining liquid will evaporate as it cools. Cool completely.

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Line pans with parchment. Alternatively, you can butter and flour the pans instead. To make a large cake, prepare two 9-inch cake pans to end up with two 9-inch layer cakes. I prepared two 6-inch deep pans instead to come up with two medium-sized cakes.

Sift together the dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cups cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, one teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt (I reduced the amount because I used salted butter). If you like nuts, toss in one cup of toasted chopped walnuts. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter with 1 1/2 cups sugar (I used only one cup as I already found the prunes sweet). Beat in eggs one at a time until mixture is light and fluffy. Add one teaspoon of vanilla and two tablespoons brandy.

At low speed, add the dry ingredients alternating with the wet ingredients. I started with 1/3 of the flour mixture, then one cup of sour cream plus one tablespoon lemon juice (or vinegar, as the original recipe calls for). Then I added another third of the flour mixture, then one cup (only!) of prune paste, then the remainder of the flour.

Pour into pans and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes on pan for 15 or so minutes before turning over on a rack. Cool completely before icing.

Cakes can be stored in the freezer if wrapped tighly in plastic wrap.

Icing

Instead of pure butter, I used one cup of butter and another cup of cream cheese. Beat these with a mixer and add the remaining 1/2 cup of prune paste. Add in two tablespoons or more of brandy. I then mixed in one and a half cups of powdered sugar. I should have added three cups of powdered sugar of a full and stiff icing, but the thought that diabetes runs in the family got the better of me.

For the small cakes, cut them in half and fill the centers before icing. For one large cake, the two 9-inch layers go on top of each other. Do not forget to brush the layers with brandy before icing! No one should skimp on brandy, especially if they're missing chocolates!