Spiced Prune Almond Cake
This spiced prune almond cake is one of those happy experiments in my kitchen. The kind I make as I go along and when I am finished, I go wow! I actually like prunes. I don’t exactly understand why they get a bad reputation. Prune juice is not something I have worked a lot with. This cake might just change that. So, to create an infusion of flavor I simmered the juice and reduced it with ginger, cloves and cardamom. And I strained the reduction and used it to infuse a lightness and depth of flavor to the cake.
I will tell you this, the warm juice lightly steeped with spices is plenty good. So, this is almost a two in one recipe. And the spiced almond cake is light and kissed with spices. Every tender bite is like a flavor party. And made with olive oil and almond meal, this cake is naturally gluten free.
More about this Spiced Prune Almond Cake
Now about the cake. I used almond meal and tried it two ways. First with about 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and then without any flour just the almond meal. They both work. Using an electric mixer. Just a simple handheld one is important to give the cake a light texture. The natural acids in the prune juice work to give the cake a good lift and lightness. Prunes are quite versatile, I use them in my filling for these cookies
Complex Flavors and Spices
There is a lot of complex flavor happening with spices, the juice and the olive oil. It is quite minimalist in terms of the cooking equipment. The only added step is reducing the prune juice. If you wish you can serve this with a fruit compote. I played with dusting a little icing sugar. Now that did not do a much one way or the other. Just a little visual appeal. Another fruit and spice cake is my fall apple and spice cake.
Granted I am not the most patient with such things. So the second time I made this, I skipped the sugar. This cake with fruit, almonds and eggs might even work for breakfast. Here is wishing everyone a great week ahead. And here is the deal folks, you can make this with any other flavor of your choice.
How to enjoy this cake
I would not oppose this as a breakfast treat, it is loaded with fruit and almonds. It is perfect with a good cup of coffee just as I have featured here.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cup prune juice
- 4 to 6 green cardamoms, gently bruised
- 6 cloves
- 1- and 1/2-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups almond meal (note for a lighter texture you can replace 1/2 cup with flour)
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- Optional powdered sugar to dust
Instructions
- Place the prune juice and the cardamom, cloves and ginger in a small saucepan. Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, until reduced to about half. Strain the juice out.
- You will lose some of the juice while straining. Measure out about 1/2 cup of the reduced spiced juice and set this aside to cool while prepping the rest of the ingredients.
- Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease a round 8-inch cake pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until pale yellow and add in the sugar and beat well until thick and creamy. Add in the olive oil and beat well again.
- Add in the almond meal and the baking powder and mix well. Do not overbeat.
- Finally add in the cooled spiced prune juice. and stir well until uniformly mixed.
- Pour into the prepared cake pan. Bake until just set. This will take about 40 minutes
- Allow the cake to cool and if desired dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!
Beverly
Bake until just set? Is there not an approximate bake time at least?