A sweet and tangy fruit bake with an unctuous chocolate cheesecake layer in the middle. This plum and chocolate cheesecake traybake is subtly flavoured with rose. Perfect for feeding a crowd.
Dom from Belleau Kitchen has put a jinx on me. He left a comment about finding my misreading of recipes rather endearing. The cheek of it! Mostly, I choose not to follow recipes as I prefer to go my own way. But ever since he said that, I have indeed misread them and today was no exception.
Plum and Chocolate Cheesecake Traybake
The friends we visited last weekend, the ones who munched their way through my chocolate courgette cake, gave us a bag of Victoria plums from their holiday let garden – mmmmmm. I wanted to make something a little more interesting than CTs suggestion of a crumble though.
Not that I have anything against crumble. But I was looking for a way to get both rose and chocolate into it as a plan B for We Should Cocoa. Just in case plan A didn’t happen.
I spotted a plum traybake recipe from Waitrose and it sounded interesting. Especially so as we had some of CTs homemade kefir cheese that needed using up. All I needed to do, was to substitute the vanilla for rose and make the cheesecake a chocolate and kefir one. However, as it turned out, I didn’t do it quite as I’d meant to.
It wasn’t until I’d made the cake and re-read the original recipe, that I realised I was meant to put one of the eggs in the cheesecake – oops! So it turns out this plum chocolate cheesecake traybake is my own creation after all.
Despite, the mishap with eggs, the result was truly scrumptious. It started with a lovely fruity hit, both sweet and tangy, then came the unctuous creamy chocolatey bit. The rose was very subtle, but left a lingering memory long after the cake had disappeared.
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Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this plum and chocolate cheesecake traybake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Plum and Chocolate Cheesecake Traybake – The Recipe
Plum and Chocolate Cheesecake Traybake
Ingredients
- 400 g Victoria plums
- 125 g milk chocolate (I used 46%)
- 200 g full fat cream cheese (I used homemade kefir cheese)
- 175 g unsalted butter – softened
- 200 g golden caster sugar (I used cardamom sugar)
- 4 eggs
- 200 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (I used ½ wholemeal spelt, ½ white)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp rose water
Instructions
- Stone and chop the plums.400 g Victoria plums
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling, water. Leave cool a little.125 g milk chocolate
- Stir the cheese until smooth, then beat in the melted chocolate and set aside.200 g full fat cream cheese
- Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.175 g unsalted butter – softened, 200 g golden caster sugar
- Beat in the eggs, one by one.4 eggs
- Sift in the flours and baking powder.200 g plain flour (all purpose flour), 1 tsp baking powder
- Finally stir in the rose water.1 tbsp rose water
- Spoon half of the cake batter into a 23 cm (9″) sq. silicon cake mould or lined tin. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look as though there’s enough, the batter will rise.
- Spread the cheese mixture over the cake batter, then scatter half of the chopped plums on top.
- Spread the remaining cake batter over the top and scatter the remaining plums over this.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for 35 minutes or until the top is golden, well risen and firm to the touch.
- Leave to cool then cut into 16 squares.
Chele says
That Dom (he has the same effect on me too lol)
That said it still looks pretty triumphant to me ;0)
Choclette says
BlackBook – thank you. It’s a lovely flavour combination that I’m pleased to have discovered.
Baking Addict – I find baking is a lot more forgiving than we’re told – either that or the people eating it are 😉 How upsetting about your cookies – it’s so easily done though.
Baking Addict says
This looks delicious. I wouldnt have thought that the flavours would work together. I’m always mis-reading recipes but they usually turn out ok except once when I completely forgot the sugar in some cookies and I had to bin the whole lot!
blackbookkitchendiaries says
this sounds amazing:) its such an elegant dessert and i just love the flavor combo. thank you for sharing this.
Choclette says
CityHippy, it’s a good combination and one I’m happy to have discovered.
Celia – as I generally go my own way regardless, I guess nothing much has changed 😉
Johanna – you never know, you might be inspired by some of the recipes in the round-up.
Johanna GGG says
yum – I haven’t been adventurous with rose so I don’t know if I will manage to cocoa along with rose – have been considering it but the dried rose petals are still in the closet!
celia says
So pretty! I think you need to keep misreading recipes, Choc.. 😉
cityhippyfarmgirl says
Lovely! I really like the sounds of the rose and plum working together.
Choclette says
WLM – It’s always fun finding out what how people will use the ingredients chosen, but even more so when the ingredient is a bit more unusual.
Frugaldom – for kefir cheese use any cream cheese, cardamom sugar is not at all necessary as it’s very subtle, but is just a jar of sugar with a load of cardamom pods kept in it. The butter I can’t help you with.
Catherine – I just love it when the elegant word is used in relation to any of my bakes – it doesn’t happen very often 😉
Angie – it’s the first time I’ve used kefir cheese in baking and it worked absolutely fine.
Angie's Recipes says
The cake looks so pretty! Love the use of kefir cheese here.
Catherine says
Looks lovely and moist! The addition of rose makes it so elegant sounding 🙂 I may make this for a wee afternoon tea with the girlies!
Frugaldom says
That looks absolutely delicious! I wonder if I could try a frugal version? Kefir cheese, butter & cardamom sugar aren’t things I have in store. Might try it after completing today’s task – my ‘we should cocoa’ August treat. 🙂
Working london mummy says
this looks lovely. I have to say the rose recipes have been really interesting this month.
Choclette says
MCB – he he, who wants to be perfect anyway 😉
Nicola – plums do make for a nice bake, although I’m also very fond of plum jam and damson liqueur.
Nicola says
That looks delicious. I made plum cake once before and it was really lovely 🙂
MissCakeBaker says
Looks fab! Glad it’s not just me who misreads recipes!
Choclette says
C- you must have posted that comment as I was typing mine. Plum and rose work really well together – a combination I shall try to remember. Having just seen CCs plum and cheesecake, I know I’m not the only one that thinks cake, plums and cheesecake go well together either.
Choclette says
CC – now rather wishing I’d made your plum cheescake 🙂
Suelle – thank you. I think the strength of the rosewater depends on the variety used – I’ve come across several over the years. The more “natural” they are, the more delicate the flavour.
Karen – plums are wonderful aren’t they. One of my favourite things from my time in living in the French part of Switzerland was the plum tarts – have not found anything to match it since.
Anna – thank you, it’s a good one :-0
Janice – thank you. It would be a good one for a party.
C says
That looks amazing – a truly original creation and very delicious with it. I love the idea of the different layers, and plum and rose sound like a good combo, but one I would never have thought of.
Janice says
Nice looking traybake. Yummy Victoria Plums.
At Anna's kitchen table says
That looks so good! Well done you!
Karen S Booth says
That looks delicious ~ what an inventive recipe idea, and I LOVE plums in baking!
Karen
Suelle says
Both versions look great – yours and the non-chocolate original.
I only used 1 teaspoon of rosewater in my small cake, which probably is proportionally about the same as you used, but found it quite a strong flavour.
The Caked Crusader says
plum traybake – a thing of beauty!