Boozy plum cake

Today I want to share a recipe that will be perfect for a carnival party! This time we'll prepare a boozy plum cake: a moist chocolate sponge cake layered with a simple chocolate filling and rum-soaked plums.

Incredibly moist sponge cake is encaed in a thick filling layer, and the flavours of plums and rum permeate almost every part. Plum jam goes perfectly with the chocolate flavour of the entire dessert, and soaked plums bring not only a bit of an edge, but also a contrasting texture. All of that under a light as a cloud cream layer that makes the cake beautiful and mellows sharper alcoholic notes. A perfect dessert for adults to top off this year's carnival!

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (20 x 30 cm tin)

Chocolate sponge cake

• 120 g cake flour
• 40 g cornstarch
• 40 g dark cocoa
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 6 large eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 75 g vegetable oil

Chocolate filling

• 750 ml milk
• 3/4 cup (~150 g) sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 60 g cornstarch (~3 heaped tbsp)
• 60 g flour (~3 heaped tbsp)
• 3 tbsp cocoa (~40 g)
• 150 g butter

Decoration

• 200 g whipping cream
• 200 g mascarpone cheese
• 30 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste 
• 2 squares milk chocolate

Also

• 300 g prunes
• 300 ml rum
• 200 ml water 
• 200 g plum jam

 Method

1. Put 300 g cubed prunes into a medium bowl. Cover them with 300 ml dark rum, stir through and make sure that plums are submerged. Set plums aside as you move on to the next step.
2. Prepare the custard that will be the basis for our filling. Pour 400 ml milk into a large pot and add 150 g fine white sugar. Stir through the contents of the pot shortly, only until sugar dissolves, and put it over medium low heat until milk comes to a simmer. 
3. Meanwhile, work on remaining ingredients. Add 3 large egg yolks, 60 g all purpose flour, 60 g cornstarch and 40 g dark cocoa into remaining 350 ml of milk. Stir through the contents of the jug shortly, until uniform liquid forms.
4. Once the milk has started simmering, turn heat under the pot down to low and, stirring constantly, add custard base into hot milk. Once you've got a uniform mixture turn heat back up to medium low and cook the custard for a few minutes until thick and smooth. Don't stop stirring because custard sticks to the bottom of the pot easily and it's not difficult to burn it. If that happens, it will become bitter and you may need to start afresh.
5. Once you've got the right texture take pot off heat and pour its contents into a wide dish. Cover the top with plastic wrap to prevent thick skin from forming and set custard aside to cool completely.
6. While custard is cooling down, prepare sponge cake. Sift 120 g cake flour, 40 g dark cocoa, 40 g cornstarch and 1.5 tsp baking powder through a fine sieve to remove any lumps. Stir through them shortly until everything gets evenly distributed, and set aside for a moment.
7. Pour 6 large eggs into a separate large bowl and add 150 g fine white sugar.  Beat the contents of the bowl with an electric mixer until sugar dissolves completely, eggs double in volume and become light-coloured and thick. It's best to beat eggs at room temperature, so remember to take them out of a fridge at least an hour ahead.
8. Once you've got the right texture turn mixer speed down to medium and add 75 g vegetable oil to eggs. Do it slowly, in a thin trickle, while mixing. This way they will combine to create a uniform, lightly shiny emulsion. Once you've added all of fat continue mixing for another 30 seconds.
9. Add dry ingredients to the batter. Do it in three batches, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix them in carefully each time with a silicone spatula. It's important not to overmix the batter and not to remove too much air, so mix it only until you can longer see raw flour. Try to reach the bottom of the bowl as this is where most of flour will gather, and it's easy to miss. 
10. Pour ready batter into a baking tin, 20 x 30 cm, and spread it evenly across the surface. The bottom of the baking tin should be lined with baking paper, and the sides should be clean and dry. The cake will stick to them during baking and not deflate while cooling down.
11. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 170 deg C, no fan, for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Once the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and set aside in the baking tin to cool completely. An hour or two should be enough.
12. Once custard is cool, move on to chocolate filling. You need to drain prunes first. Pour them through a fine sieve and set them aside so remaining rum can drain off. Gather the liquid in which they were soaking and add the same amount of cool water. I've gathered 200 ml rum, so I've added 200 ml water. You can refrain from using all alcohol if you want a more subtle taste. Stir through the contents of the jug until uniform, and set it aside.
13. Put 150 g suft butter into a large bowl and cream it with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Butter and custard should be at similar temperature, so remember to take butter out of a fridge at least an hour ahead.
14. Once you've got the right texture scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula and start adding cool custard. Do it slowly, a tablespoon at a time, and mix it thoroughly in before adding the next part. It's worth scraping down the sides again from time to time. At the end of the process the filling may look quite fluid, but it will firm up once it cools down.
15. Add drained prunes to the filling. Stir through the contents of the bowl until prunes are evenly distributed and put it into a fridge as you move on to cream layer.
16. Pour 200 g cold whipping cream (36%) into a large bowl and add 200 g cold mascarpone cheese, 30 g icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla paste. Beat contents of the bowl with an electric mixer until stiff. Put cream into fridge once ready.
17. Carefully cut off sponge cake from the sides of the baking tin, remove baking paper from the bottom and transfer cake onto a worktop. Cut it into two layers at 2/3 of its height using a long, serrated knife. This will mean the two layers will be even once you weigh the bottom one down.
18. Return the bottom layer into the clean baking tin. Its bottom should be lined with baking paper, and its sides - with baking paper or acetate foil. Soak the bottom of the cake with half of your rum mixture, using a soaking bottle, brush or a tablespoon.
19. Put 200 g lightly sour plum jam on top of soaked sponge cake and spread it evenly across the surface. Put chocolate filling on top and spread it across the whole surface, too. Arrange the second, thinner sponge cake layer on top and press it down lightly to make it stick. Soak the top cake with remaining rum mixture. Put cool cream and mascarpone cheese mixture on top and carefully spread it in an even layer. Finally, scatter grated milk chocolate on top. Put the cake into a fridge overnight to firm up chocolate filling and develop all flavours.
20. Enjoy! 

Approximate nutritional value 

100 g 

• 295 kcal
• Carbs: 30 g 
• Fat: 15 g
• Protein: 5 g
• Fibre: 2 g

1 slice (recipe makes 24 slices)

• 371 kcal
• Carbs: 37 g 
• Fat: 19 g
• Protein: 7 g
• Fibre: 2 g