Drunken Prunes Food

BREAD PUDDING WITH DRUNKEN PRUNES

Steps:

• Place diced prunes in a small jar or bowl, pour Comfort ove rtop; let sit about 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350. Brush 2-quart baking dish with 1 T. melted butter, set aside.
• In a large bowl, drizzle remaining butter over bread cubes. Scatter cubes on a baking sheet and brown lightly in the preheating oven. Remove and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine milk, cream and vanilla. Add eggs, yolks, sugar and salt, whisking until smooth; set aside.
• Dump bread cubes into prepared baking dish. Remove prunes from liquor (or it might all have soaked in) and toss with cubes. Pour egg-mixture over top of cubes and prunes; cover.
• Place baking dish in a water bath (water should come 3/4 of the way up the sides of the dish), in the oven. Bake for one hour (or until "set").
• Remove dish from water bath, chill for two hours in refrigerator before unmolding from baking dish (or leave in the pan if you're not doing a fancy presentation).
• If you prefer to serve the pudding HOT, let it rest only until it is unpuffed--but do NOT unmold to serve.
• Serve with "butter-rum" sauce (1/2 cup each melted butter and powdered sugar with 3 T rum splashed in--heat briefly in the microwave) OR vanilla ice cream OR whipped cream.

BAKED CRISP WITH FIVE SPICED APPLES, PEARS, DRUNKEN PRUNES, AND MASCARPONE CREAM

Steps:

• In a small pot over low heat, add the prunes and wine. Bring to a simmer and then remove from the heat and let steep for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Plating: Remove the cobbler dishes from the oven and serve hot topped with mascarpone cream.
• In a medium bowl, combine the apples and pears with the lemon juice. Using another small bowl, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, five-spice powder, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Add the dry mixture to the apples and pears and toss until coated. Pour the prune and sugar mixture into the fruit and toss again.
• Coat the cobbler dishes with butter and generously fill with the fruit mixture (it will shrink down as it bakes). Top each serving with 1/4 cup oat crisp topping and bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until the fruit is tender and topping is golden and crunchy. In a small bowl, mix the mascarpone with the chopped lemon zest. Reserve in the fridge.
• In a food processor, combine the oats, butter, flour, and both sugars and blend just until crumbly. Be careful not to over-process, as the mixture will become pasty.

DRUNKEN PRUNE POUNDCAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Position rack in bottom third of the oven. Butter and flour a 9X3 inch tube pan, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• In large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and soda. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars at medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Mix in the extracts and zests, and fold in the prunes.
• Bake for one hour, until the cake pulls away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• To Make Brandy Soaked Prunes.
• Empty a 16 ounce container of prunes into a clean, sealable glass jar and pour brandy over the top until it covers them by about an inch. Allow prunes to macerate at least one day before making cake. Kept in a cool, dark place, the prunes will keep for months.

SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI, DRUNKEN PRUNES, AND AMARETTI

Steps:

• Add prunes and Marsala to a medium skillet. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately remove skillet from heat and set aside.
• Fill a large pot with 4 quarts water; season with salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Add butter to skillet with prunes and Marsala and return to high heat; cook until butter is melted.
• Add gnocchi to boiling water; cook until gnocchi rise to the top. Continue cooking 1 minute more. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water to skillet with prune mixture. Using a wire-mesh skimmer, transfer gnocchi to a warm, shallow serving platter. Pour prune mixture over top.
• Garnish with crushed amaretti; serve immediately.