Mascarpone Cake with Red Wine Prunes, p. 47, Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz
Totally elegant and a show off cake (might just not tell people it’s prunes… I’ll say it’s dried plums). I definitely judged this cake before trying it - it’s memorable and pretty. And my partner loves this cake, so I’ll definitely be eating it again.
Instead of one large egg and two large egg yolks I used two flax eggs and the cake matched all the descriptions for texture, so I think this sub works just fine. Swap butter for Earth Balance.
You will also need to make a vegan mascarpone (unless you know of some you can buy in stores, tell me about it, I want to try it!) I chose this recipe from One Green Planet. You’ll need 1 ½ cups of soaked cashews (boil the water at the beginning of the bake to quick soak them if you’re not soaking overnight), ½ cup coconut cream, the juice of a lemon and a pinch of salt. Blend it all up in a blender or food processor.
I made the red wine prunes a couple days in advance, so I wouldn’t have as long of a process time the day I made the cake and so the prunes would cool down. I just kept them in a quart container (take out tupperware) on the counter. This part was honestly really fun and made the house smell great.
Claire says to use a cake pan and I used a springform pan. Not sure what the main difference is really except how you take the cakes out of the pan.
Also, no you’re not putting too many prunes on the cake, that’s how it’s supposed to be. The batter rises up around them a little bit.
I personally give this bake a 5 out of 6, it definitely surprised me, but I’ll admit I don’t adore this cake. Matt REALLY liked this one, it’s up there with the best of the best (cornbread muffins and molasses cookies). So, the moral of the story: Try the cake. Worst case scenario, you end up with yummy cake.
