Chocolate Nut Cake Recipe from Scratch

I came across this chocolate nut cake recipe from scratch while looking for a recipe to use up all the nuts and prunes I had that had been sitting around for a while.

It is a perfect recipe because I used up all the nuts and only have half the prunes left. I was getting a bit worried about the prunes as they were sitting around for a while.

 

Chocolate Nut Cake Recipe

Preparation Time -20 minutes
Cooking Time -90 minutes

Ingredients
Melted butter, to grease
200gm  dried diced prunes
1/2 cup water with 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour
3/4 tsp ground allspice
100gm almond meal
175gm milk free margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
100gm macadamias, roughly chopped
75gm toasted slivered almonds
200gm dark cooking chocolate (Plaistowe brand), broken into squares

Method
1.Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush a round 20cm cake pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base with non-stick baking paper.

2.Combine the prunes and water with vanilla essence in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 45 minutes to macerate.

3.Reserve 2 tbs of the flour. Sift remaining flour together with mixed spice in a medium bowl. Add the almond meal and stir to combine.

4.Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until combined. Use a large metal spoon to fold in half the flour mixture until just combined. Repeat with the rest of the flour.

5.Drain the water from the prunes and discard. Add the macadamias, almonds, chocolate pieces and reserved flour. Use a metal spoon to gently fold the prunes into the butter mixture.

6.Spoon the cake mixture into the lined pan and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Bake, in preheated oven, for 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

7. Remove from oven and stand for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. If desired, brush with the extra brandy over the top. Dust with cocoa powder and icing sugar before serving.