Grand Central Bakery - Artisan Baking - Cafe Cuisine - Bread Pastries Sandwiches Soups - Portland OR - Seattle WA

The Joy of Prunes

I love prunes. I love prunes the way some people love chocolate. I love their deep, dark complex flavor, the way they soak up bourbon, brandy or tea and their lush, slightly sticky chew when baked in a cake, tart or custard.

It is a maligned fruit, better known for its digestive properties than for its taste, which is too bad. If anything, the prune is romantic-think Agen prune, Armagnac and pruneaux.  Aren't those lovely words that evoke a wintery French countryside? Keep your dried plums-I'm sticking with prunes.

Chocolate Cream Pie

I'm not really the cream pie type, and I blame it on JP Patches, the early morning clown of my Seattle childhood.

Scary!

He'd hear a knock on the door and open it only to get a pie in the face. See for yourself on YouTube!  I never thought it was funny and I still don't.