Plum cake with pistachio, black tea, and truffles

Chef Boštjan Pavli from the Ljubljana restaurant Harfa shared a recipe with us, bringing a touch of diversity into our homes. He shared a dessert with us that will surely delight your loved ones with its unusual combination of ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

Sponge cake:

• 5 eggs
• 100 g sugar
• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 80 g pistachios
• 3 teaspoons truffle-flavored olive oil

Filling:

• 180 g dried plums
• 5 tea bags of black tea
• 30 g sugar
• 2 sheets of gelatin
• Butter and cocoa powder for the mold
• 10 g chopped pistachios for decoration

PREPARATION METHOD

Prepare the sponge cake:
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease the mold with butter and sprinkle with cocoa powder. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and place them in a mixing bowl. Add 60 g of granulated sugar to the yolks and beat until you get a light and fluffy mixture. Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold the chopped pistachios and flour into the egg yolk mixture, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites and truffle-flavored olive oil. Pour the batter into the prepared mold and bake for 20 minutes, then let the sponge cake cool.

Prepare the filling:
Place the dried plums in a saucepan with some water and cook for 1 hour, then drain them, reserving the juice. In 2.5 dl of the reserved juice, add the black tea bags and sugar, bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Let the tea bags steep in the juice for 5 minutes, then remove them.
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water, squeeze out the excess water, and dissolve them in the black tea with plums. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Slice the cooled sponge cake into 4 thin layers. Blend the plums in a food processor until smooth and use the puree to spread over each layer of sponge cake individually. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 8 hours. Before serving, decorate it with chopped pistachios.