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Dessert

Prune Shape

A molded dessert of prunes set in a sugar‑gelatin mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Prune Shape

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the prunes

  1. Place the prunes in a saucepan and cover with water.

  2. Simmer until tender.

  3. Remove the stones and kernels from the prunes.

  4. Blanch them.

Make the setting liquid

  1. Soak the gelatine in nearly ½ pint of cold water.

  2. Once dissolved, add the sugar.

  3. Boil for 5 minutes.

Set and serve

  1. Place the prunes and kernels into a mold.

  2. Pour the sugar mixture over them.

  3. Set aside until firm.

  4. Turn out the prune shape.

  5. Serve plain or with boiled custard.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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
Form the main body of the shape and give a soft, tender texture with a rich, sweet flavour.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid so the shape holds together and can be turned out of the mold.
Sugar
Sweetens the setting liquid and adds body to the flavour.

The step that matters

Soaking and dissolving the gelatine. Gelatine must be fully dissolved before the sugar is added and the mixture is boiled. Undissolved granules leave gritty or uneven patches, and the set will be weak or patchy when the shape is turned out.

“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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