(Recipe) Sticky Prune Cake

Today, I will be sharing a Sticky Prune Cake recipe taught by a culinary-trained friend, , who is well versed in Italian cuisine just as he is passionate in baking.

This recipe is a classic, dug out from Nicholas’s old trainee recipe book back in his culinary school days. It requires minimal kitchen appliances, few ingredients and zero baking experience. Trust me when I say this recipe is simple to follow, because baking and I are foes. If I can do this, anyone else can. Just follow the steps carefully.

Because I am no culinary professional, my kitchen basically follows my trait. No combi oven, no blast chiller, no griddles, no charbroilers, no designated workstations, … I’m feeling really inferior right now. I know many can relate. We always feel under-equipped, or perhaps always feeling the need for the newest kitchen appliances.

This recipe requires a convection oven, which I think many of you avid bakers would already have. Not me though, BUT, I’m thankful for the Philips Airfryer that doubles as a convection oven. In fact, the airfryer takes much less time to preheat, and the temperature remains accurate and consistent throughout the baking process.

Ingredients:

- 150g dried prune
- 250ml boiling water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 100g room temperature butter
- 135g brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 150g plain flour
- (Optional) 50g cream

Method:

1) Chop up prunes and mash them. Put them in boiling water for 5-10 and whisk them in.

2) Add butter into the prune-water mixture and whisk till all the butter is melted and well incorporated.
3) Add sugar and continue whisking.

4) Add flour in 2 to 3 batches and continue whisking.
5) Add eggs and continue whisking.
6) Add baking soda.
7) (Optional) Add 50g of cream if you desire a richer texture. I didn’t in this recipe.

8) Preheat oven to 180°C. Bake for 15 minutes, then bake for another 10 minutes at 170°C. You can also bake at 170°C for 25 minutes, depending on how dark you’d like the crust to be.

The Philips Advance XL Airfryer that I have fits 6 cupcakes. Love the results!

The cake turns out really moist and uniformly baked.

Do try the recipe and let me know what you think! For beginners, the most important rule is to measure all the ingredients (very accurately) and place them in separate bowls before mixing everything together.

Happy baking!