Chef Wan's Walnut Prune Cake

I simply had to attempt this recipe again. Why? Because the last couple of times, I made a mistake in both attempts.

First mistake - I did not whip the whipping cream, duh!

Second mistake - Instead of folding the whipped cream into the stiff egg/sugar mixture, I added it while beating the batter, which made the stiff mixture become liquid again :(

It was only later that I had a revelation. The whipped cream should be folded and not beaten into the sugar and egg mixture. Alamak (slap forehead)! How I wish that the instruction in the recipe had been more explicit. 

As a result of my mistakes, the cake did not have a good texture and it did not wow me at all. I simply had to give it another go before I can express a true and fair view on this recipe. Geez, I sound like an auditor! 

The egg and sugar mixture took forever to become stiff.

If I remember correctly, in my maiden attempt, the egg and sugar mixture became stiff after being beaten for about 10 minutes. But went limp after I beat in the whipping cream :( 

In the next attempt it refused to become stiff. I gave up and added the whipped cream and of course the cake was a disaster.

I mixed the prunes, jam, cocoa powder and walnuts first before adding the batter.

And in this attempt, it also took forever and halfway through, I ran upstairs to google LOL! One recipe said, if your eggs refuse to stiffen, make a sweet omelette and start over. Not funny! There wasn't anything wrong with what I was doing and I let my beater go on and on and on.

BEFORE

Finally, I got it and luckily my cake mixer did not burn out. I folded the whipped cream into the stiff mixture using a spatula and everything seemed to go well.

AFTER

Another reason why I attempted this cake again was to taste and then decide if whipping cream is just as good or is butter still better. ***Research and Development Mode On***

The top is dryish. I should have tented the cake but that erection was in the way.

When the cake was cool enough, I tasted a slice. The texture was light and slightly dry. I may have over baked it. And it was clearly missing the fragrance and richness of butter. With due respect to Chef Wan, I am sorry to say that tastewise, I did not like this cake at all :(

The melted chocolate topping in the original recipe may have made this cake more palatable but since I did not make any, there was no salvation. And I don't even have the heart to give the cake away. What does not taste good to me, I cannot give to other people.

I am not saying that this is a bad cake.  As a matter of fact it is excellent if you used butter. In my opinion, butter is always better. No more whipping cream for me, except as filling or frosting. If you are interested in the butter cake version, I have done it here and I promise you that the cake is awesome.

Here's the original recipe if you are interested to give this cake a go.

Walnut Prune Cake

Recipe source : Adapted from Chef Wan Cakes page 26

(My notes and adaptations in red)

Ingredients :

- 250g pitted prunes

- Juice of 1/2 orange (I used juice from 1 orange)

- 3 tablespoons sliced almonds (I omitted)

- 4 eggs

- 1 1/4 cup castor sugar (I used 160g)

- 1 tbsp grated lemon zest (I used zest of 1 orange)

- 300ml whipped cream (I whipped to stiff peaks)

- 2 cups self-raising flour (I used 250g self-raising flour)

- 3 tbsp apricot jam

- 1 cup walnuts (I broke into smaller pieces)

- 1/4 cup cocoa powder

- melted chocolate to decorate (I omitted)

Method :

1. Steep prunes in orange juice for 3 hours.

2. Grease a medium chiffon cake tin and sprinkle sliced almonds (if using) on the base.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and lemon zest until stiff. (I did not add the zest at this point)

4. Gradually add (by folding using spatula) whipped cream (and orange zest).

5. Fold in flour.

6. Divide batter into 2 portions, one with one-third and the other with two-thirds of batter.

7. Pour the larger portion of batter into prepared cake tin.

8. Mix together jam, walnuts, marinated prunes and cocoa powder with the remaining one-third of batter. (I mixed the jam, walnuts, prunes and cocoa powder first to make it easier to fold into the batter)

9. Pour into cake tin over the first layer.

10. Create a marbled effect in cake using the tip of a knife to swirl batter.

11. Bake in an oven preheated to 170C for 1-1.5 hours. (I baked for 1 hour  at 160C)

12. Cool the cake in the tin and then remove.

13. Drizzle melted chocolate over the cake to decorate (I skipped this).