Some days are nothing but errands from morning until night. Work, phone calls, shopping, things to do around the house, and another task to tick off the list. In the evening, we realise that we have spent the whole day together, yet each of us has been busy with something else. This time, I decided to bake the cake with my wife. It turned out to be a very good idea. One of us washes and stones the plums while the other measures the ingredients. Someone sneaks a piece of chocolate, and then comes an awkward question:
“Wasn’t there supposed to be a little more chocolate?”
There certainly was. 😉
A bit of conversation, a bit of laughter, someone looking for a utensil, someone stirring the batter — and suddenly baking an ordinary cake becomes a lovely way to spend an evening together. With everything going on each day, it is easy to stay busy with our separate chores even when we are side by side.
I’m not saying a mixer is the secret to a happy marriage, but an hour together in the kitchen can do more good than you might expect. And when it ends with a moist chocolate cake packed with a kilogram of plums and a hint of orange, that is a pretty good finish to the evening.
Chocolate, Plums and a Hint of Orange
In this cake I bring together three distinct flavours: chocolate, plums and orange.
I add cocoa, chocolate and orange flavouring to the batter. Some of the chocolate I use is orange chocolate, too. The citrus note comes through without turning this into an orange cake. Chocolate and plums still take centre stage. And there are plenty of plums: a whole kilogram of fruit.
I wanted a juicy plum in practically every slice. As they bake, the plums soften and release some juice, keeping the chocolate cake pleasantly moist.
If you have more ripe fruit to use up, try my oven-baked plum butter. It is an easy way to use a large batch of plums without spending hours beside a saucepan.
And if you fancy something creamier instead of chocolate, have a look at my plum and mascarpone shortcrust cake, where the fruit meets mascarpone and almonds.
Caster Sugar: A Small but Important Detail
For this cake, caster sugar works best. It makes a difference when creaming the butter: the finer the crystals, the more easily they disperse and dissolve as you mix. You can use regular granulated sugar, but you will need to cream it for a little longer.
I never rush this step. The butter and sugar should become pale and noticeably fluffy before I add the other ingredients. Now, on to the recipe.
🍰 Using a different baking tin? This recipe is for a 23 × 31 cm tin. Adjust the ingredient quantities to the area of your tin and check the cake near the end of the suggested baking time.
Chocolate Plum Cake with a Hint of Orange
16
slices30
minutes50-60
minutes300
kcalA moist chocolate cake with 1 kg of juicy plums, a gentle orange note and a glossy chocolate glaze.
Ingredients
200 g unsalted butter, softened
200 g caster sugar
4 large eggs
200 g sour cream (12% or 18% fat)
250 g all-purpose flour
60 g unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon orange flavouring
50 g chocolate in total: dark or semisweet chocolate plus some orange chocolate
1 kg plums, preferably European prune plums
Chocolate glaze
- 80 g dark or semisweet chocolate
- 30 g butter
Directions
Prepare the ingredients
Take the butter, eggs and sour cream out of the fridge ahead of time so they reach room temperature. Wash and dry the plums, cut them in half and remove the stones.
Cream the butter
Put the softened butter into a mixing bowl and add the caster sugar. Cream for several minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the orange flavouring and mix briefly.
Add the eggs
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing just until each is incorporated before adding the next.
Add the dry ingredients and sour cream
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. Add them to the batter along with the sour cream. Fold with a spatula just until combined.
Add the chocolate
Finely chop or grate the chocolate. I use dark or semisweet chocolate plus some orange chocolate. Add it to the batter and stir briefly.
Fill the tin
Line a 23 × 31 cm (about 9 × 12 in) baking tin with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly in the tin. Arrange the plum halves close together on top, cut sides facing up.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F), conventional heat, without a fan. Bake for about 50–60 minutes. Towards the end, test the cake between the plums with a skewer. Leave it to cool after baking.
Make the glaze
Melt the chocolate and butter over a water bath. Stir until smooth and glossy, then pour over the cooled cake.
When Everything Is Ready but the Oven Is Cold
I had a classic kitchen mishap with this cake. Everything was ready: batter in the tin, plums neatly arranged, time to bake. I opened the oven and only then realised that I had forgotten to switch it on.
It was supposed to be waiting at 175°C (350°F).
So the cake tin stayed on the counter while we took an extra fifteen-minute break and waited for the oven to heat up. Baking together has another advantage, as it turns out: there is always someone else you can try to blame.
It didn’t work. My wife remembered perfectly well who was supposed to turn on the oven. 😉
What Does Chocolate Plum Cake with Orange Taste Like?
What I like most is the contrast of flavours: rich cocoa and chocolate, sweet-tart plums and a subtle hint of orange. The orange should not take over. The flavouring and a little orange chocolate are there mainly to bring out the cocoa and dark chocolate.
As the cake bakes, the plums soften, release their juices and sink partway into the batter. That keeps the cake from drying out. Instead, it is moist, soft, deeply chocolatey and packed with fruit. A chocolate glaze goes on top, too, so this is certainly no cake for anyone who believes there is such a thing as “too much chocolate.” I am not one of those people.
How to Store Chocolate Plum Cake
Thanks to all that fruit, the cake stays moist for quite a while. Once it has cooled completely, I cover it to keep it from drying out. If I plan to keep it for more than a day, especially when the house is warm, I store it in the fridge.
It is worth taking a slice out a little before eating. At room temperature the cake becomes softer, and the chocolate and orange aromas are much more pronounced.
Sometimes Baking Together Matters More Than the Cake
What stayed with me most this time was not whether the plums were arranged perfectly or how many minutes the cake spent in the oven. I simply enjoyed making it with my wife. With the rush of everyday life, it is so easy to put time together off until later. Maybe at the weekend. Maybe when work eases up. Maybe when we have finished everything on our list. But that list has an annoying habit of growing faster than we can shorten it.
Sometimes there is no point waiting for the perfect moment. We can just head into the kitchen together. One of us stones the plums, the other creams the butter. Someone sneaks some chocolate. Someone forgets to turn on the oven. Then we try to work out whose job that was. And that is really the point.
Cooking together gives us a chance to do one thing side by side for a while, talk, laugh and take a break from daily chores. It does not require a restaurant, a trip or a grand plan for the evening. Sometimes all you need is a kilogram of plums, some chocolate and an oven. Preferably switched on. 😉