Prune Honey Cake Recipe

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My entire family was smitten with this prune honey cake; especially Mom. She had 2 slices ;). This cake is traditionally called Chernosliv (black prune cake). I’ve been developing the recipe for months and was really close to throwing in the towel because my initial cake layers looked more like bowls rather than cakes.

I felt this cake was worth-while so I stubbornly continued on with my experiments. Now it’s finally perfect! This prune honey cake rose beautifully and was stunningly tall. The layers are fluffy, moist, creamy, and studded with sweet prunes. 

P.S. There’s a very cool baking soda/honey chemical reaction in this cake. Like “kids come check this out” type of cool!

 

Ingredients for the Prune Honey Cake Layers:

6 large eggs, room temp
1 cup white granulated sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour *measured correctly
5 Tbsp honey
2 tsp baking soda

Ingredients For the Frosting:

32 oz sour cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Fillings/Toppings/Decor:

1 1/2 cups chopped prunes
Melting Chocolate or Chocolate chips to melt for decor
Chocolate block for shavings

How to Make the honey cake layers:

Butter and line the bottoms of 2 (9-inch cake pans) with parchment paper. Preheat the Oven to 325˚F.

1. Using your electric stand mixer, beat 6 large eggs with 1 cup sugar 5  minutes on high-speed.

2. {Here’s the cool chemical reaction part: did you know honey activates baking soda?} Heat 5 Tbsp honey in a saucepan  over medium heat until it is very hot, but not boiling (about 125˚F), stirring often.

Just as soon as you see faint bubbling on the edges,  use a spoon to stir in the 2 tsp baking soda into the honey stirring continuously until your mixture turns a yellow/light caramel color (about 30-45 seconds seconds) and immediately remove from heat. It will continue to cook even after you remove from heat. Continue stirring until you’re finished adding it to the egg mixture.

This is what it looks like by the time you are ready to spoon it into the egg mixture. You don’t want it darker than this and it happens quick so don’t step away from it!

3. With the mixture on high speed, add hot honey to the egg mixture about 1 Tbsp at a time so you don’t cook your egg mixture. Also, don’t wait for your honey mixture to cool down or it will harden and you won’t be able to blend it into your egg mixture.

See that honey on the edges of the bowl? That’s pretty much candy. It’s expected. You won’t be able to scrape it  down into the bowl, but don’t worry, it washes off easily.

4. Reduce mixer speed to med/low and blend in flour 1 cup at a time. Use a spatula to scrape down the mixing bowl to make sure the flour is well blended.

5. Just as soon as the flour is well incorporated, divide into two prepared baking pans and bake at 325° for 25-28 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Once they are cool enough to handle, remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the Honey Cake frosting:

1. Beat the heavy cream until stiff and spreadable (1-2 min on high speed).

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 32 oz sour cream with 2 cups powdered sugar. Fold the whipped cream into the sour cream and you have your frosting. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Honey Cake Assembly:

1. Once your cake is completely cooled to room temp, slice your cake layers in half and keep the halves stacked until ready to assemble so your cake doesn’t dry out.

2. Order of layers (assemble the cake on your serving platter).
(A) First cake layer (B) enough frosting to cover the layer  (C) 1/3 of your chopped prunes (D) thin layer of frosting on the bottom of the next cake layer (like putting mayo on both sides of bread for a sandwich), then repeat steps (A-D). Frost the outside of the cake and sides then decorate with piped strips of melted chocolate, chocolate shavings and more prunes. Prunes prunes the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you,… did I really just go there? Sorry about that. Lol. Anyway, I think the song was meant for beans. oh nevermind! :-O.

3. I melted some chocolate and piped it on over the top in a checkerboard fashion, then put some horizontal lines on it for extra awesomeness.

Come to Mama.

P.P.S. This cake is best eaten the next day after the layers and prunes have gotten a chance to soften up with the velvety sour cream frosting.