Parisian Prune Desserts

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Chocolate & prune
Chocolate-Prune Tiramisù

Skip the chocolate, I’ll take prunes.

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40 comments

    • Chris

    I’m game to try…

    • Pille

    We nibbled on juicy Californian prunes only last night, and K. asked me why the Americans don’t like them (somebody commented a prune dessert recipe on my blog, that this is something considered healthy food in the US and not many people like them; hence the rebranding of them as dried plums:)
    Don’t know -they make a delicious snack!

    • June

    And they are healthy too. Keeps you regular

    • Jennifer

    Oh, that sounds fabulous. My grandmother made a (delicious, at least in my memory) dessert she called “Prune Whip” with custard, prunes, and meringue…and she and I were the only ones in the family who would eat it. Everyone was turned off by the prunes. More for us…

    • Shirlie

    Great article! Your obvious adoration of this misunderstood fruit is making me rethink my perceptions–the only experience I have had thus far with prunes is fetching glass after glass of warm prune juice for my digestively challenged father. Anyhow, thanks for the article and the recipes look like a great jumping-off point in prune exploration. Do you just add the strip of lemon/orange rind with the kumquats and have it cook down? Will it get syrupy-delicious like in our CM class if cooked this way?

    • David

    Hi Shirlie: Yes, it should!

    • Kim

    I’ll take prunes over chocolate also. Fun article and defineatly want to try the prune ice cream.

    • Abby

    Nice article, David! Between this and your comments about prunes at the Central Market class (I was at the Fort Worth one), I’m ready to start experimenting! Thanks for the inspiration!

    • Fiona

    Well, we *do* eat one prune sweet: hamentaschen. But they’re rarely all they should be. And this looks way better.

    • Babeth

    Gos that looks so delicious!! It’s a good idea to put fruits in tiramisu.

    • Abra

    But wait, where’s the recipe for the prune tiramisu? I totally need to make that!

    • Ulla Laage

    AAARGH !!! What did I miss ??? I’m sitting here drewling … and there’s no recipe ??? Hear my prayer: tell me how to make it – because it looks both delicious AND healthy !!! Thank you.

    Ulla

    • matthew k.

    David, great article in the LA Times today. I read the LAT Food Section every week. Anyways, in response to your comment about taco stands (and trucks), it looks like that part of LA culture is currently being threatened by a new city ordinance to heavily fine taco trucks. The article can be found in the LA Times, or Eater LA. It would be a sad day if the local truck nearby my apartment were forced to move.

    • Mrs.W

    I love prunes. So does my husband. I often use them when I make curries. Yum!

    • Steve

    Is this post somehow related to that Texas-BBQ-excess post?

    • Jill

    I dunno, I like prunes, but I will also eat anything with chocolate! Or in France. Got back yesterday, go again on Friday. I am slowly recovering my French and my bearings.

    • michelle @ TNS

    i gotta say…i’ll still take the chocolate.

    • Susan

    Also great with vanilla ice cream is a spread I buy just called ‘pruneaux’. Agen prunes rock, and mi-cuit prunes (and tomatoes) are always worth buying.

    • Eileen

    hmmm…. I don’t know. It looks good.

    • krysalia (france)

    c’est vrai que les prunes à paris c’est presque une tradition :D

    • abbey

    Yum! Please post these recipes in your recipe section! I’ve never poached anything, but the prunes in Earl Grey with kumquats sounds positively heavenly.
    Thanks!

    • delphine

    hmm I’ve never had a fresh prune before. I am probably like many americans in that when I think of prunes I think of old people drinking prune juice.

    • Judith in Umbria

    Yannow, you really had me with the “It Might Rain” thing, and I generally trust you more than is good for me, but prunes in tiramisu? No. I eat prunes or dried figs almost everyday. I am surrounded with tiramisu makers. The twain must not meet, at least here.

    • Ann

    Loved the article! Well, now I’m having to rethink my entire prune theory – that it is the juice drank, necessarily, by my parental units. I’m completely turned disoriented, in a nice way.

    • Belle

    Off post, but I HAD to ask:

    Fried crickets @ Hugos (pourquoi-outta chips?)
    what’s the story & verdict?

    Savory Cake @ Central Market – is there a recipe in your archives? It looks downright sinful!

    Merci ;)

    • David

    hi All: The prune recipes are exclusive to the LA Times, and they’re with the article. Follow the link…

    • Roland

    I read your article in the paper this morning as well. I don’t have any prunes in the house, but I think I’ll try your ice cream with the left over dates we have. Thanks.

    • David

    hi Roland: If you do use dates, you might cut the sugar down since they’re a lot sweeter than prunes. Can’t tell you exactly how much, but start with less than you think; you can add a bit more prior to churning.

    (Ok, and rum and dates works really well, too!)

    • Jeanette

    As a native Californian I grew up eating prunes and always liked them. My mother made a terrific prune cake. I must say, however, it was not until being in Agen with Kate Hill and tasting prunes there that I came to know just how delicious they could be. Most Americans will never experience the “true” prune texture and flavor. We enjoyed you article in the LA Times, by the way. Jeanette

    • Hillary

    I have had an on and off relationship with prunes. I LOVE them in tzimmes but occasionally they nauseate me.

    • Kristina

    I KNEW I was meant for Paris! Prunes and tiramisu = heaven. Or, dried plums, as they’re known here.

    • Dolcefine Gelato

    Your photography is outstanding. Is that your work, too or do you have someone doing it for you?

    • Olivia

    Every English child grows up having nightmares about the prunes and custard shoved down our throats at school.
    I started to like prunes when I tried the juice, which has a nice toasty flavour. I buy some from time to time to sip on, content in the knowledge that it’s also very good for me. Am a bit squeamish over the texture of the fruit itself, though.

    • Tags

    I’m going to try prunes soaked in kosher Coca Cola.

    • Deborah Dowd

    I would not have thought of prunes and chocolate, but every time I was pregnant (my youngest is now THIRTEEN) I had a serious prune addiction. I ate them all the time (good for anemia). Maybe I should try again (prunes, not pregnancy).

    • Howard

    Prunes got a bad rap back in the Middle Ages when the Knights Templar started eating them in the Middle East along with Figs and Dates. After eating virtually bushels of prunes and then riding-off to fight the good ecclesiastic fight on their galloping studs – well, need I tell you that the poor fellows had problems.
    Today, almost everyone knows that prunes have a reputation and they begin hearing about it when they’re all just kids. Naturally, kids begin to have bad associations with this wonderful sweet and delicious fruit and most of them stay away from it. It’s really sad and unfortunate that the stories kids heard carries over into adulthood and that’s why most growups stay away from prunes.

    • Jessica “Su Good Sweets”

    I made the poached prunes yesterday. They were so good, thanks!

    • Pille

    I made your prune & armagnac ice cream last weekend, and we both liked it a lot. Easy to make /sour cream is a very common ingredient here in Estonia/, lovely not-too-sweet flavour. Thanks!!

    • Linda

    In the Earl Grey tea poached prune recipe, what do you do with the strip of lemon? Is it stewed with the prunes or added later for a garnish?

    • David

    yes, the lemon should be steeped with the prunes for flavor.~dl

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