I’ll get to the cake in a moment, but first things first. For the last two years David and I have been working on a new company, TableFare, to design and manufacture things for cooks. It really started with this cook wanting better solutions to frustrations I faced in the kitchen. Happily we have confirmed that it’s not just me, and lots of other cooks are looking for solutions to the same frustrations. Last night our website went live to test it before we officially launch later this month, so you get a sneak peek at our first product…click on the home page to see what we have been up to!
Prunes have an image problem despite efforts by the California Dried Plum Board to rebrand them as dried plums. I have always liked prunes. I remember breakfast at my grandparent’s house always started with fruit and often it was a little custard cup filled with three stewed prunes. This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie baking task was a chocolate cake with Armagnac and this poor misunderstood fruit. I was delighted, but I will admit when I served it to friends I couldn’t bring myself to tell them it contained prunes, but I did tout the Armagnac element.
This cake got Dorie Greenspan, the author of Baking: From My Home to Yours
I will admit that I wasn’t exactly sure what Armagnac was. I knew it was alcohol, but I couldn’t really tell you much more than that before doing a bit of research. I found this Armagnac primer on line at NewYork Magazine to be very helpful and interesting. In a nutshell, Armagnac is brandy similar to cognac in that it is made from white grapes, but unlike cognac, it is distilled only once and is given more time to age in oak barrels. The author claims it is better and cheaper than cognac; that seems like a good enough reason to give it a try if you ask me. I thought it tasted good, and wished the flavor was more prominent in the cake. With 1/4 cup in the batter, I was surprised it was so subtle.
Thanks to Lyb of And then I do the Dishes for selecting this week’s recipe and expanding my liquor collection! You can find this recipe and other wonderful things on her blog.
Armagnac Chocolate Glaze
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 Tbsp. honey
3 ½ Tbsp. cream
1 tsp. Armagnac
Combine the cream and honey and warm in the microwave until hot, but not boiling. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and whisk to combine. Whisk in the Armagnac. While the glaze is still warm, pour it over a rich chocolate cake, brownies, or vanilla ice cream.
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This is beautiful. Really.
Your photo is absolutely gorgeous! I didn’t know what Armagnac was either so don’t feel bad. I used scotch because we had it on hand so I appreciate the primer you posted!
Somehow everytime I make sweet recipes that involve alcohol, I always end up finding the liquor flavor to dissapear in the baking process. I’m not so much looking for an alcohol taste, but much more for the fruity flavor of the alcohol. In this particular recipe, I thought that was what the prunes were supposed to do… retain the flavor instead of it getting lost throughout the cake. So, I wasen’t sure if heating up the prunes in water to plump them up was the right way to achieve that… instead, I heated them up directly in the liquor, didn’t flambe them… but left them soaking in that warm juice for a couple of hours until they plumped up and drunk the whole thing. It work very well for that’s exactly what happened, every bite of the prunes retained the fruity brandy apricot flavor. Just thought I’d let you know… as it is nice to get the flavor when you pay for the liquor! LOL
Lovely as usual, Carol… I hope you do try it again without the water!
Poor prunes, so misunderstood. I happen to love them. Your Armagnac chocolate glaze sounds yummy. I didn’t really know much about Armagnac prior to this challenge too.
Carol, I wish you all the best with your new business — your spice containers look fantastic and a perfect solution for my spice drawer, and I can’t wait to get my hands on them.
I loved this cake as well — that slice looks so delicious!
I love the fact that you and David are launching TableFare! Whoo hoo!
I am not a fan of prunes, but I am a definite fan of your cake. I wouldn’t mind trying a slice. It looks gooooooooooooood.
This is just lovely! I’m a fan of prunes myself.
Yum…the cake looks delicious! I am going to check out your home page now to see what you guys have cooking. ;o)
Your cake looks wonderful! Best of luck with your new business!
I am not a prune hater but more of a dislike-er. Unfortunately I had a bad prune experience when I was younger and I can’t bring myself to shake the reputation that my brain always gives it. The cake itself looks mighty tasty so maybe I’ll just forego the prunes if I make it. Or maybe… craisins would be a good sub? PS. Website looks awesome! I have no doubts that it will be a complete success. I wish I lived closer to Chicago. I’d love to go to the Home show to meet you IRL! Good luck with your new biz!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
Wow! This looks perfect! I like prunes and think they are simply misunderstood.
First of all, gorgeous photo, as always! Secondly, the cake looks beautiful! And thirdly, I LOVE that you added Armagnac to the glaze!!! That’s my kind of glaze!
Your cake looks fantastic. I used raisins, but I like prunes too!
I love your interlocking spice jars! I, too, have always been a prune lover, but I guess we’re in the minority. The two colors of chocolate (cake vs glaze) is set off nicely on the white!
I am excited about your new business endeavor. Hope it goes wonderfully.
Your cake is beautiful.
Great job with the new business, and with that cake! I was surprised that the cognac flavor wasn’t more pronounced, but I loved the cake anyway. I’ll write down Vibi’s suggestion in my cookbook for next time.
I’m glad you liked the cake, it looks fantastic! It’s always nice to have an excuse to expand the liquor collection, right?
Thanks for baking along with me!
Thanks for the tips! Made two of these to serve 12 andit was a big hit, though I substituted brandy for argmagnac. I served with a bit of leftover cream and some of the first raspberries.