Author Notes
A friend of the family makes a delicious prune cake, of which I've been promised the recipe for the last 20something years. My attempts to recreate it started with Susanne's Spice cake from the Vegetarian Pleasures cookbook. I keep making it, adding/deleting ingredients and in this version adding espresso. Topping it with powdered sugar is sweet enough for me, but a powdered sugar glaze would better suit someone with a real sweet tooth. Also, the espresso gives it a strong coffee flavor, but you could use coffee for a less intense effect. - nannydeb —nannydeb
Test Kitchen Notes
Nannydeb’s Prune Coffee Cake is a perfect breakfast cake (when one is of a mind to have cake for breakfast and really that is something you should do now and again). It is sweet but not too sweet, rich without being too dense, and has a perfect hint of coffee and spice. The prunes keep it nice and moist as well. It's an easy cake to make, comes together in 10 or 15 minutes, and is delicious still warm or completely cooled. Next time I make it I may dice up some additional prunes and add them in there as small chunks just because I really love prunes. A definite thumbs up for an EP, and Nannydeb needs to teach a cake workshop because she is the master! - aargersi —aargersi
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Ingredients
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2 cups
all-purpose flour
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1 1/2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon
ground cloves
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2 tablespoons
baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon
salt
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1/2 cup
prunes, quartered
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1/3 cup
hot espresso or coffee
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4 tablespoons
unsalted butter,room temperature
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1 cup
sugar
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1
egg, room temperature
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1 teaspoon
vanilla
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1/4 cup
maple syrup
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2/3 cup
whole milk
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Powdered sugar for dusting
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 10-inch spring form pan. Set aside.
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In a small bowl, plump the prunes with the hot espresso or coffee for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
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In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla, and maple syrup and mix well.
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Puree the prunes with the espresso or coffee in the food processor. Add to the cake batter and mix well.
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Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
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Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan at least 10 minutes.
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Remove the cake to a serving plate and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Former restaurant manager (and waitress, bartender, etc). I love food: eating, trying new recipes, shopping for it, talking/emailing about it, etc. My foodie friend and pen pal got me interested in recipe contests and also turned me on to food52 and now I'm obsessed!
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