Fat-free Truffle Cake

Wotchers!

Hope you’ve been good, because here’s a real treat for you – and with no butter AND a hefty wodge of fruit, it’s practically health food!

The secret is prunes – no, wait! Stop! Come back! It’s good, I promise you! Look, it has chocolate and alcohol in it too! *waggles bottle enticingly*

This is similar to the Luxury Brownies of before Christmas, but instead of butter, we have a puree of prunes which not only pairs fantastically with chocolate, it also adds a delicious Squidginess™ to each mouthful, and with a baking time of just 20 minutes, it can be whipped up in a flash.

I’ve soaked the fruit in alcohol to add moisture, but you can just as easily use fruit juice – I suggest orange.

Fat-free Truffle Cake

200g of ready-to-eat prunes 
150ml port/madeira/rum/fruit juice
150g 60% dark chocolate
4 large eggs, separated
100 grams of sugar 
100 grams of flour 
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

50ml milk
50g 60% dark chocolate
50ml port/madeira/rum/fruit juice
cocoa powder for dusting

• Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C Fan.
• Grease and line a 24cm spring-form tin. Alternatively, this quantity will make 12 cupcake-sized servings. NB If you’re wanting to garnish each individual cake with a prune, you’re gonna need to soak more prunes!
• Put the prunes into a small saucepan. Check that the stones have been removed – I always find 1 or 2 that have been missed, even if the bag says they’re pitted. Add your liquid of choice, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Cover and set aside.
• Melt the chocolate over a water bath or in the microwave.. Separate the eggs and stir the yolks into the melted chocolate. Be careful, because the yolks will cook if the chocolate is too hot.
• Pick out 6 prunes for decoration, then puree the rest with their soaking liquid and stir into the chocolate. I fine a stick blender is best for this, as the puree gets really smooth – the small quantity of fruit makes a food processor unsuitable for this task.
• Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.
• Whisk the egg whites until frothy, then gradually add the sugar a little at a time. Whisk to soft peaks.
• Add the whisked eggwhites to the chocolate mix and incorporate fully. This is best done by adding 1/3 of the whites and STIRRING gently with a WHISK. This is better at retaining the volume of the whipped whites than the cutting motion of a spoon using the ‘folding’ technique. The first third will necessarily sacrifice volume, as it will initially be difficult to incorporate the thick chocolate mixture, but the next two additions will stay beautifully billowy.
• Add the flour mixture using the same method – slowly stirring with your whisk until fully incorporated.
• Spoon your mixture into your tin of choice and smooth the top. There’s little rising during cooking, so try and make the surface as level as possible without actually deflating the mixture.
• Bake for 20 minutes if making a single, large cake, 16-18 minutes if making cupcakes.
• Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• When cold, wrap in cling-film and leave at room temperature overnight. This resting will allow all the flavours to mingle and for the prunes to work their magic on the texture. There’s nothing WRONG with eating it immediately, it’s just better if you can wait.
• To serve:
  • Boil the milk and pour over the chocolate. Leave for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. If it’s not full melted, zap in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to help it along.
  • Stir in the alcohol/fruit juice.
  • Dust the top of the cake with unsweetened cocoa powder.
  • Add the reserved prunes, one per slice – or per cake.
  • Drizzle the sauce over the cake, or serve alongside each slice for people to help themselves.