Prune And Walnut Cheesecake Recipes

PRUNE CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine first seven ingredients. Add oil, buttermilk and eggs; mix well. Fold in plums and nuts. Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes or until cake tests done. Remove from oven and punch holes in top of cake with a wooden skewer or pick. Immediately combine glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly; pour hot glaze over warm cake. Cool in pan.

PRUNE AND WALNUT CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Place the prunes, half the lemon juice and zest, the cinnamon stick, and bay leaves in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, then almost immediately turn down the heat to simmer for 3 - 4 minutes. Cool and let this stand overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Butter the base and sides of a 10-inch square or round baking pan.
• Cut the brioche into cubes and place in a food processor with the walnuts, then process until finely chopped.
• Put the brioche and walnut mixture in a large bowl with the nutmeg, melted butter, and 1/4 cup sugar.
• Mix well and press the mixture gently over the base of the buttered baking pan.
• Refrigerate until firm.
• To make the filling, beat the cheeses together with the remaining lemon juice and zest, the remaining sugar, and the eggs (add the latter one by one, beating well in between to combine evenly).
• Drain the prunes and cut them into small pieces. Place them all over the cheesecake base, then pour over the filling, smoothing the top.
• Bake for about an hour, until the filling has set. Cool completely before serving.

PRUNE PLUM AND WALNUT BUTTER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and dust it with 1 tablespoon of the flour.
• Toss the plums with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the brandy; set aside.
• Cream the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a large bowl with 1 cup of the sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift the remaining 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt together and beat into the creamed butter.
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until they start to foam. Do not over beat, or the cake will be tough. Add the eggs and ground walnuts to the flour and butter mixture. Mix well.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the plums on top in rings. Sprinkle with any remaining brandy-sugar syrup and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
• Bake for 1 hour, or until the cake is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the cake (not the plums) comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the springform pan and serving. Garnish with a dusting of confectioners' sugar.

BREAKFAST PRUNE SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch tube pan.
• In a large bowl, mix the shortening and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and prunes. Sift the flour, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl or onto a sheet of waxed paper. Stir in the dry ingredients 1/3 at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix in the walnuts if using. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the crown of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

PRUNE AND WALNUT CRECENTS

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• Pulse butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt, and flour in a food processor just until a dough forms. (Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough and form into 2 balls, then flatten each ball into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, each wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Make filling:
• Pulse walnuts, prunes, sugar, cinnamon, and Sherry in food processor until nuts are finely chopped and filling forms a thick paste.
• Form and bake crescents:
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Roll out 1 disk of dough (keep the other chilled) into a roughly 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut out rounds with floured cookie cutter. Chill scraps.
• Put 1/2 teaspoon of filling in center of 1 dough round. Brush some of egg wash halfway around pastry, near edge, then fold dough over filling, forming a half-moon shape. Pinch edges to seal. Make more crescents in same manner, rerolling scraps (but only once).
• Arrange crescents 1/2 inch apart on 2 buttered large baking sheets and lightly brush tops with egg wash. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in middle of oven until tops are pale golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.