Tuesdays With Dorie: Chocolate Armagnac Cake (The Cake That Got Dorie Fired)
This Chocolate Armagnac Cake is an intense chocolate cake. And ok, this cake has whisky soaked prunes. Prunes?? But wait! It’s really good.
I like when there’s a interesting backstory to things, it’s one of the reasons Lost is my favorite show. I’ve always liked to learn the events that have led to the way things turn out. This cake has a backstory. According to Dorie, it got her fired from her very first professional job when, out of boredom, she improvised on an existing popular Chocolate Whisky Raisin cake recipe at the restaurant. I guess the problem came when she didn’t tell anyone she did it and the cake went out to unsuspecting customers. You know how people can get about prunes. 
The cake turned out to be quite good but the boss fired her anyway.
And now 250 bakers are trying their hand at this cake all these years later. Interesting.
Specifics: I used walnuts for the ground nuts due to the difference in costs compared to pecans. Armagnac is a type of brandy made in Southwest France, but I used Scotch whisky left over from the Butterscotch Pudding I recently made instead to save some more $$. I had way too much fun this past Saturday night which I was still recovering from when I made this cake. I made a mistake and smelled the whisky as I was getting ready to pour it. Getting a big whiff of that whisky really didn’t do it for me, I must say. 
I baked in two 4 inch springform pans for about 23 minutes which maybe was a tad too long.
This cake was delicious. For as much chocolate as it had in it, it wasn’t a chocolate overload for me. I served with vanilla ice cream which made it taste even better. You couldn’t even tell there was prunes in it really, they added some texture and a little bit of sweetness but it was more of an accent. Wrinkled up noses at the thought of prunes might come at the beginning, but smiles will come at the end. And that’s a great way for things to turn out, don’t you think?
Ok, what am I going to do with all these leftover prunes now?
Thanks to LyB of And then I do the dishes for selecting Chocolate Armagnac Cake – The Cake That Got Me Fired for the March 3rd edition of Tuesdays with Dorie. The recipe can be found on LyB’s blog here or in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From my home to yours on pages 279-281. For next week, Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles has chosen Lemon Cup Custard. See you next Tuesday!
Dimply Plum Cake (My 30th TWD!!)
Michelle of Bake-En was up to choose this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. Even though all of us will be baking through the entire book eventually, there’s certain recipes that interest me and I wonder about how soon they’ll be chosen for the group to complete. This cake was one of those.
A co-worker had given me a few plums before I went on vacation a couple weeks ago which worked out to be perfect timing. Plus, it was great not to have to buy anything extra in order to get this done (I love weeks like that). I didn’t have cardamom so I substituted an equal mix of cinnamon and nutmeg instead. I used dried orange zest in place of fresh, vanilla bean paste, and Canola oil. I baked in an 8×8 pan but only did 3 rows of 3 plums each since I didn’t have a lot of plums.
I was not a huge fan of the texture of the cake at first. It was WAY too crumbly. But as it sat out longer and longer, it got better. I liked how the fruit got really mushy and turned bright pink, which you couldn’t really see until you cut into it. Next time though, I think I would cut out the centers more after I pitted the plums.
I ate on this for a few days, having it for breakfast mostly. The taste was good, and kind of spicy, which I liked. I could see myself making this again. The Playing Around section for this cake gives a lot of different choices for fruits and spices. I love that you don’t ever have to make Dorie’s recipes the same way twice.
Ok, I think I really like taking pictures like this because I seem to do it a lot. But see how pink it is?
This marks my 30th completed TWD recipe (and my 33rd recipe made from the book). Thanks to Michelle for choosing the Dimply Plum Cake found on page 41 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From my home to yours. Make sure you stop by Bake-En to check out the recipe and to see what Michelle thought of her choice. For next week, Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake has selected Creme Brulee on page 393. Woo hoo!
