Stewed Prunes
Ingredients
Directions
Place prunes in a small porcelain kettle and cover with boiling water.
Boil covered for 5 to 10 minutes until swollen and tender.
Drain most of the water, leaving just enough for syrup.
Add sugar to taste, about 2 heaping tablespoons for a quart of prunes.
Boil for a few more minutes, being careful not to break the prunes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Prunes
- Soften during simmering and form the body of the dish.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cooking liquid, which becomes a light syrup.
The step that matters
Boil for a few more minutes without breaking the prunes. Prunes are soft after simmering and can split when stirred or boiled hard. Gentle heat keeps them whole while the syrup thickens slightly and absorbs their flavor.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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