Plum Hazelnut Chocolate Cake Recipes

PLUM, HAZELNUT & CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the base of a round 20cm cake tin. Halve and stone 4 plums, set aside for later, then roughly chop the remaining plums.
• Put the sugar, butter, flour, ground hazelnuts, eggs and baking powder into a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer for 1-2 mins, until smooth and light. Stir in the chopped plums and chocolate, then tip into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top.
• Arrange the halved plums over the top of the mixture, pressing them down lightly, then scatter over hazelnuts. Bake for 40-50 mins until the top is golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out, remove the paper and cool on a wire rack. Heat the jelly, then brush over the top of the cake before serving.

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the springform pan by coating it in a thin layer with 2 tablespoons of the softened butter. Add the cocoa powder to the pan and tap the sides to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Discard any excess cocoa powder. Put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven on the center rack until just fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a kitchen towel to stop them from cooking. Use the towel to rub off the skins. Set aside to cool. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Fill a 1- to 2-quart pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a bare simmer over medium heat. Place the dark chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl and set it over the pot and simmering water (this is a bain-marie). The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Let the chocolate melt, and then stir gently. Remove from the heat when melted.
• Chop the hazelnuts into small pieces using a chef's knife or a food processor. Make sure you don't turn them into powder. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer with the salt until they are almost at stiff peaks. Try not to over-whip. Mix together the remaining 5 tablespoons butter with the chocolate hazelnut spread in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in the espresso. Add the yolks and stir briskly to combine. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts and melted chocolate. Add one-fourth of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate hazelnut mixture and stir to lighten the batter. Then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter in 3 additions. Don't over-fold. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
• Bake on the center rack of the oven until the sides of the cake start releasing from edges of the pan, 40 minutes. This cake is almost a hazelnut fudge, so no need to poke with a toothpick to check if the inside is ready or not. The cake will come out of the oven nice and fluffy and souffled, but it will deflate to half the size during its cool-off period. Serve garnished with some powdered sugar and whipped or cream or gelato, if using.

RUSTIC GERMAN PLUM CUSTARD TART WITH STREUSEL & SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Set aside 1/2 cup of milk and bring the rest of the milk to the boil. If using real vanilla, scrape out the seeds and add the pod to the milk as well. While the milk is heatin, mix the cornstarch with 1/2 cup of the milk, adding the 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt as well as vanilla bean paste or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean. Stir this slurry into the hot milk, bring to the boil whisking, and let bubble for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the stove. Stir in the creme fraiche and orange zest and let cool.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C and grease a 9 pinch tart pan or springform pan with removable bottom. Wash and core the plums and cut in halves or quarters
• With a handheld mixer or in your standmixer, quickly mix the butter with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, a pinch of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt to form a crumbly streusel dough. It should not come together but form streusels. That's totally fine!
• Dump 2/3 of the shortcrust dough in a 9 inch parchment-lined springform pan or a tart pan with removable bottom and press down to form a crust. Press dough up the sides as well. Spread the cooled custard on top, cover with the quartered or halved plums and sprinkle everything with the streusel topping.
• Bake the tart at 175 ° / 350 F for about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack! Let it cool down completely before slicing.

HAZELNUT PLUM CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. and butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan, knocking out excess flour.
• In a small saucepan melt butter over moderate heat and cool. Stir in vanilla. In a food processor blend together nuts, brown sugar, and flour until nuts are ground fine.
• In a bowl with an electric mixer beat whites with salt until they hold stiff peaks and fold in nut mixture gently but thoroughly. Fold in butter mixture (batter will deflate) and spread batter in prepared pan.
• Arrange plum slices evenly over batter and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake cake in middle of oven 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Turn cake out onto rack and cool, plum side up, 5 minutes.
• Sift confectioner's sugar onto cake and serve cake warm with ice cream.