When a family member calls at seven am, squelch of panic in the body, and you forego “hello” for “is everything okay?” and it is at that moment okay, I suppose, but not really because you learn that his dementia has gone from mild to moderate in six months and things are changing fast and he can’t drive anymore and he’s such an independent person, now was, and there’s really no other choice, you live thousands of miles away and did notice a significant change when visiting during the holidays, a quiet absence, almost like a whisper or something seen out of the corner of your eye, and he didn’t play his piano, not even once, which has never happened ever since you were a little girl who liked to play under that (or really a different one but) baby grand, who scored a place in the college honors program with an essay about his piano but I digress and switch grammatical personas and tenses like someone whip-changing lanes on the highway (without signaling), but there’s so much up and down and some sort of figurative messiness is necessary and in some ways, I suppose, literal is as well (the dishes!). Sort of. I don’t know. Emotions complex. Confusing. There was good, yes, and a lot of bad. There is always more to the story. I need control. I need magic. I need to bake.
Flourless Chocolate Prune Cake with Rosemary Salted Whipped Cream,
or,
A Cake for
Love (Chocolate and Vanilla),
Longevity (Prune; Plum)
Memory (Rosemary),
Purification (Salt),
and Healing (Orange snuck into the cake).
Note: this recipe was written a bit off kilter because sometimes I just can’t stick to the script so please feel free to email me if you need clarification, hello@thecakehistorian.com.
For the Rosemary Salted Whipped Cream:
1/2 c (120 g) heavy cream
pinch of sea salt
2 small sprigs fresh rosemary
In a small saucepan warm the cream and salt over medium heat until bubbles appear at the edge and a bit of steam begins to drift up. Remove from the heat and slip the rosemary springs into the cream, swishing a bit to fully dress the sprigs in white. Let sit for 30 min then remove the rosemary sprigs and refrigerate the cream to cold cold cold while you make the cake.
For the Flourless Chocolate Prune Cake (recipe adapted from David Lebovitz):
3 ounces (85 g) pitted prunes
3 T (45 g) orange juice
1 T vanilla extract
2 T granulated sugar, divided into 1/2 T and 1 1/2 T
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet chocolate in chips or chopped up
6 T (84 g) unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated
1) Butter and flour (or cocoa) a 6” springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 325°
2) Prepare the prunes: combine the first three ingredients plus the 1/2 T of sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil then turn down to medium-low and let simmer until the liquid has absorbed into the prunes. This took about 5 min for me. Remove from the heat and use a spoon or fork to mush up the mixture, breaking about the prunes even more. You’re not trying to create a puree here just smaller bits of the perfumed prunes to mix about in the batter. Set aside.
3) Melt the chocolate and butter together in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl* set over a pot of simmering water. Remove the lot from the heat, then the bowl from the pot and into it stir the prunes. Let cool for 8 minutes. *(you’ll be mixing all of the cake batter in this bowl so keep that in mind when selecting size)
4) Whisk the egg yolks to combine then fold into the chocolate prune mixture.
5) Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt, slowly adding the remaining 1 1/2 T of sugar until stiff peaks. Fold into the batter, gentle gentle, until no streaks of white remain.
6) Keep up the gentle gentle as you spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
7) Bake for 40-45 min until the toothpick test comes back clean and the cake starts to pull away from the sides.
8) Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes then remove the ring and let the cake cool completely.
Just before serving the cake whip up the cold cream then pile atop the cake.
I did not add any sweetener to my cream but feel free to add powdered sugar to your liking. Alternately, top the cake with powdered sugar before the cream or serve each slice of cake with a dollop of the whipped cream on top and offer up powdered sugar.