Prune puree may not be the best sounding, or the best looking thing in the world, but it's magical. Almost as magical as college acceptance letters... almost.Did you know prune puree can replace the fat (i.e. butter or oil) in baking? And the best part...while cutting down on the fat, it doesn't change the flavor, and it keeps the baked goods perfectly moist. It truly is life changing.
I first got the idea from Martha Stewart, who uses prune puree in one of her brownie recipes. The brownies were so good, ever since I've been using prune puree often in my baking.
A prune is basically a dried plum. When dried they end up tasting rather sweet, and have a sticky texture. Prunes are a very dark brown, and when pureed with water it turns into a lighter brown as seen in the photo. Because of their dark colour, I find they work best in dark coloured desserts, (i.e. chocolate) so far I've baked them in my brownies and muffins (post coming).
Homemade Prune Puree (makes between 3/4-1 cup of puree)
Ingredients
1 cup (250g/8 oz) dried prunes
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water
Directions
In a blender* combine water and dried prunes. Pulse until it has the texture of a sticky pure (I pulsed between 15-20 times!) It will be slightly thick, and may have a few chunks.
Store in a container in the fridge for 1 month.
* I tried using both a food processor and blender and I found that my blender worked best. Feel free to try your food processor though.
What are you going to bake this weekend with your prune puree?
- Lou
Good to know, Miss Lou...I shall try it...You even make a photo of "Prune Puree" look good...Haha...
ReplyDeleteI tried with my blender but smoke started coming out of it (the blender, not the prunes!) and then it gave up altogether :-(
ReplyDeleteI think I need to get a food processor.
@Anonymous - Oh no!! Were you pulsing your blender? I found that pulsing with the chop setting helped to break up the prunes at first and then I moved it to the puree setting.
ReplyDelete