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Dessert

Stewed Prunes a LA Francaise

Stewed prunes simmered with sugar and claret, then baked until fully cooked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Stewed Prunes a LA Francaise

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Soak the prunes in water for 30 minutes.

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

  3. Add sugar to taste and simmer until nearly soft.

Finish and bake

  1. Stir in the claret and transfer to a porcelain dish.

  2. Bake in the oven at 300°F (150°C) until fully cooked.

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
Provide the main body and texture, softening as they cook in liquid.
Claret
Adds acidity and wine flavour, deepening the colour of the syrup.
Sugar
Adds sweetness, balancing the tartness of the prunes and wine.

The step that matters

Simmer until nearly soft. Heat slowly breaks down the fruit's pectin and fibres, so the prunes soften gradually. Stopping at nearly soft leaves room for the baking to finish them without collapsing into mush.

“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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