From an 1800s Cookbook: “The unpopularity of prunes is unfortunate. This may be because prunes were formerly one of the cheapest fruits or because they are cooked and served in the same way too often.

Desirable results can often be secured by combining prunes and other dried fruits with tart fruits such as apricots, apples, and rhubarb.”

DRIED FRUITS
Dried fruits such as raisins, dates, figs, and prunes are valuable sweets for boys and girls. It is much better to eat one of these fruits than candy. This is because the sugar is mixed with other materials and does not irritate the digestive organs as does the concentrated sugar existing in most candies. The fact that mineral materials exist along with sugar is another point in favor of the sweet fruits. All the above-mentioned fruits contain iron. Very young children are fed prune juice because of its laxative effect.

SPICED PRUNES
Stone* two cups cooked prunes and cut into small pieces. Add the juice of one orange, a few gratings of orange rind, one-fourth cup chopped cranberries, one-half cup prune juice, one-half teaspoon cinnamon, two tablespoons sugar and one-fourth teaspoon paprika. Simmer twenty minutes. Serve cold as a condiment with meat.

* stone – remove the stones or pits

SPICED PRUNES No. 2
Prepare one pound of prunes for cooking and then place in a casserole dish. Add one cup water, one-fourth cup vinegar, one cup brown sugar, one piece of stick cinnamon, six cloves, four allspice, two blades of mace, and one-half teaspoon of nutmeg.

Cook slowly until the prunes are tender and then drain the syrup and boil ten minutes before pouring over the prunes. Serve cold as a condiment with meat.

PRUNE PUDDING
To one cup cooked prunes, seeded and chopped, add one-half cup sugar, one cup chopped nuts, one-half cup milk or prune water, one teaspoon vanilla, one tablespoon melted butter, three crackers, rolled fine, one teaspoon baking powder, and salt to taste.

Mix all the ingredients, pour into a buttered baking-dish and place the baking-dish in a pan of hot water. Bake in a moderate oven* for twenty minutes, or until the mixture is firm. Serve hot or cold with plain or whipped cream.

* moderate oven – a moderate oven is about 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit.

PRUNE MARMALADE
Cook prunes with a small amount of water and rub through a colander. This removes the skins or breaks them up so that many can take them who otherwise could not. Served with almonds, beaten white of egg or almond or whipped cream, the marmalade makes a nice dessert.

STEWED PRUNES
Immediately after breakfast, wash two pounds prunes in several waters, rubbing them in the hands. Put in a preserving kettle with one gallon boiling water and simmer three or four hours. Add two teacups* light brown sugar and boil till the syrup is thick. Keep close covered and do not stir so each prune may be stewed whole. Put in a shallow bowl and set to cool. This amount will make two dishes, an excellent side dish for winter or spring.

*teacup – same as a jill or gill; four ounces in the U.S. and five ounces in the U.K.

STEWED PRUNES No. 2
Purchase the cheaper kind of small prunes and put them into a saucepan with a pint of water, a bit of lemon-peel, and two ounces of sugar. Allow them to simmer and stew very gently for about half an hour, and then let them become nearly cold. Boil some rice in a cloth and when done, spread out on its dish. Pour the prunes over it for the children’s dinner. This cheap and wholesome meal proves a great treat.

PRUNE DELICACIES
Wash the prunes thoroughly and then drain and turn on a cloth to dry. Remove the stones and fill the centers with a mixture of chopped nuts and ginger. Roll in granulated sugar. Prunes may be filled with fondant or fudge.

PRUNE SALAD
Prepare the prunes as for stuffing. Place one-half cup of cottage cheese in a bowl and add one green pepper chopped fine, one-half teaspoon salt, and one-half teaspoon paprika. Blend thoroughly and then fill into the pitted prunes. Now arrange the stuffed prunes upon crisp lettuce leaves and sprinkle with lemon juice. Serve with either paprika or mayonnaise dressing. This is very nice for luncheon or supper served as a salad.

PRUNE AND NUT JELLY
Soak three level tablespoons of gelatin in one-half cup of cold water for one-half hour. Now stone sufficient prunes to measure one cup. Add one-half cup of finely chopped nuts, one-half cup sugar, one cup prune juice, and the juice of one lemon. Place the gelatin in a hot-water bath to melt, and strain into the prune mixture. Stir until thoroughly mixed and then pour into molds. Set aside to mold and then serve with whipped cream.

CALIFORNIA PRUNE CAKE
To one cup of sugar, add six tablespoons of shortening.* Cream well until light and creamy. Then add the yolks of two eggs, one cup of water, two and three-quarters cups flour, two level tablespoons baking powder, and one level tablespoon mace.

Beat to thoroughly blend, then fold in the stiffly beaten whites of the two eggs. Now line a cake pan with greased paper and pour in a layer of the cake batter and spread evenly. Next, spread a layer of finely chopped nuts, and then a layer of well-drained and cooked prunes that have been chopped fine. Cover with a layer of the cake batter and repeat this until the pan is three-quarters full. Dust the top of the cake lightly with sugar. Place in a moderate oven and bake for one hour.

Cool, and make icing from three-fourths cup of xxxx sugar,* one tablespoon lemon juice, and sufficient boiling water to moisten. Then spread on the cake.

*shortening – a general term for butter or other fat used to make pastry or bread
*xxxx sugar – super fine sugar

BAKED PRUNES
Prepare one-half pound of prunes for cooking and place in a casserole dish. Add one-half of an orange cut in thin paper-like slices. Cover the dish and place in an oven to bake very slowly. If the prunes are soaked early in the morning, then prepared for baking and placed in the oven when the fire is slacked off for the night, they will be done very nicely in the morning. This long, slow cooking is just what the prune requires.

PRUNE CHARLOTTE
Soak three level tablespoons of gelatin in one-half cup of cold water for one-half hour. Then set in a hot water bath to melt. Strain into a bowl and add one cup of prune juice, the juice of one lemon, and one-half cup of sugar. Heat to dissolve the sugar and then cool before adding to the gelatin. 

Now place a few spoonfuls of the prepared gelatin mixture in a mold and turn the mold to thoroughly coat it. Then line the mold with cooked, stoned prunes. Pour a few spoons of the gelatin mixture over the prunes and set them in place before pouring in the remainder of the mixture. Set aside to mold. When ready to serve, un-mold on a platter and serve with prune sauce.

PRUNE SAUCE
Rub one cup of cooked and stoned prunes through a fine sieve and add one cup of prune juice, the juice of one lemon, and six tablespoons of sugar. Heat to dissolve the sugar and then cool before serving.

PRUNE SOUFFLÉ
Cover three-fourths pound of prunes in water and soak overnight. Cook until soft, using the water they were soaked in. Drain, take out the stones and press through a purée sieve. Add half a cup of granulated sugar and the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Bake in a pudding dish twenty minutes. Serve cold in the dish in which it is baked, with cream.

Image from Deposit Photos

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