“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.”- Andy Rooney
I absolutely promise this is my last red and white post! Its just a coincidence that I made this white chocolate and plum layer cake the same week I made the red velvet marble cake , but it is totally intentional that I posted it together . Because how great would this look at your christmas dinner!
I have had this notion for a while that plums and white chocolate would go well together. I even came across these tartlets with this flavour combination. A long time back , i made a simple white chocolate cake with a few plums on top . The cake was delicious but the plums weren’t done justice to ! They almost seemed like an afterthought there . Not here ! They have as starring a role as the white chocolate here .
Plums as such aren t bursting with flavour, at least not the ones I have had. The flavour is understated , to say the least. But the more subtle notes of the plums burst out against some spices or acid. This plum compote is easy to make and is really really good. Just some chopped up plums (with peels on for that colour!) , sugar , lime juice. I added a pinch of clove powder and a stick of cinnamon to add another layer of interest , but thats totally up to you. And if plums arent your thing , then you can use strawberries or some other fruit if you would rather do that !
The cake is my versatile white chocolate sponge cake. I say versatile because this recipe can be made into loaves and bundts – plain or with nuts / dry fruit / streusel – and it would be great. But just as great when layered and filled. The cake has some richness of its own – thanks to the chocolate. So soaking or not is upto you. I chose not to here because the cake really can hold its own.
The frosting is the cooked flour or ermine frosting . You can check out a detailed post on it here if its new to you. It is not as sweet as most frostings so i thought it would be a good match with all that white chocolate . But it needs a wee bit more work and time than say, a white chocolate ganache, So you could totally go with that too. I did add some bit of white chocolate to the frosting to keep the theme up , but in hind sight , plain ermine frosting works in a pinch!
So there you have it = some yummy white chocolate cake + some almost puckery plum compote + some luxurious white chocolate ermine frosting. Sounds good , or sounds good?
White chocolate and plum layer cake
Ingredients
For the white chocolate cake
- 3 eggs
- 150 grams or 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 170 grams or 3/4 cup chopped white chocolate
- 180 ml or ¾ cup milk
- 85 grams or 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 190 grams or 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
For the spiced plum compote
- 4 plums
- juice of 1 lime about 2 tablespoons
- 50 grams or 1/4 cup granulated or castor sugar
- Pinch of clove powder optional
- 1 cinnamon stick optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the white chocolate ermine frosting
- 35 grams or 4½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 200 grams or 1 cup granulated sugar
- 240 ml or 1 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 226 grams or 1 cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100 grams white chocolate
Instructions
To make the white chocolate sponge cake
- Preheat oven to 160 ℃ or 325 ℃ . Grease an 7 inch round pan with butter , dust with flour and line the bottom with parchment .
- In a saucepan , heat chopped chocolate , cubed butter and milk together until the chocolate n butter have melted. Keep warm.
- Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder . Keep aside.
- Using an electric mixer or whisk, whip the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until triple in volume and pale in colour . If you lift your beater or whisk and draw an eight on the top of the batter , you should be able to see the whole 8 before it disappears.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low until combined.
- Add the chocolate-butter-milk mixture and beat until smooth.
- Pour batter into prepared pan .
- Bake for 40- 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out dry. The top will be golden brown and edges will be coming away from the sides.
- Cool in pan for ten minutes and gently unmould. Cool completely.
To make the spiced plum compote
- Remove the pits from the plums and chop them fine. Do not peel !
- In a thick bottomed saucepan, add the chopped plums, lime juice, sugar and spices.
- Bring to boil , until all the sugar dissolves.
- Lower the heaat and continue cooking , stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes thick. The plums will break down and soften. Check for taste and add sugar / lime juice as needed.
- Once it reaches desired consistency , take off heat , remove the cinnamon stick and stir in the vanilla .
- Cool to room temperature before using.
To make the white chocolate ermine frosting
- Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a saucepan.
- Add the milk and whisk until combined
- Place saucepan over low heat and whisk continuously as the mixture comes to a boil
- Once it boils , cook for 1-2 minutes, then take the pan off the heat and whisk for a minute or so. It should be lump free and smooth
- Transfer the pudding into another bowl or plate . Cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap directly onto the pudding. This prevents a skin from forming. Let the pudding to cool to room temperature
- Once the pudding is cool, beat the butter until fluffy and pale,.This will take 5-10 minutes using an electric mixer and much longer using a wooden spoon or whisk ( but doable).
- Once the butter is really smooth and pale (important!) , add the cooled pudding one tablespoon at a time, mixing or beating well after each addition
- After all the pudding has been added, mix or beat for another 3-5 minutes. The buttercream should be smooth and creamy.
- Melt the white chocolate and mix into the frosting !
To assemble the cake
- Slice cooled cake into three horizontally using a serrated knife.
- Place one layer on a cake board or plate.
- Spread about 1/4 cup frosting on top. This is so that the compote doesnt seep into the cake.
- Using a piping bag with a round tip or corner cut off , pipe a ring of frosting along the outer edge of the cake layer. This acts as a dam so the compote doesnt seep into your outside frosting.
- Spread half of the compote on the layer within the frosting dam.
- Place the next layer on top , press gently . Spread buttercream, dam and spread compote as above.
- Place the last layer. Press gently.
- Place about one cup of buttercream on top . and using a spatula , spread on the top and sides of the cake as smoothly as possible.
- Chill for some time.
- Now, smoothen the frosting further and pipe / decorate as you wish !
Notes
You can puree the plums if you want a smooth compote.
The spices in the compote are optional. As is the white chocolate in the frosting.
This cake bakes up with a crust . If you want to avoid a dark crust , bake in a larger pan or in 2 pans.
My measuring cup is 240 ml.
I will be the first one to admit that , that slice of cake is a mess waiting to happen! I just like the chunky bits of the compote – some added texture in a layer cakenever goes amiss for me. But just blend the plums or chop really fine before making the compote and you wont have the filling oozing out that much.
Speaking of much , this is a rich cake! so serve small wedges and let them come back for more if they want. They probably will , but if they dont – just some more for you!