This recipe for Prune bread, which I turned into prune and raisin bread, comes almost directly out of Marian Burros’ cookbook. It is the last recipe in week one of my 2015 CookbookChallenge. I initially selected this recipe thinking Prune bread would go well with Beef Bourguignon. As it turns out, this is a very dense sweet prune bread-more like banana bread or zucchini bread. It is not a rustic bread like I had thought, and I wouldn’t recommend serving it with a savory dish in lieu of a dinner roll. This isn’t going to wow your neighbors or score you another date with the guy or girl you’re trying to impress. Nonetheless, it’s still tasty with some butter (or not) in the morning or as a snack in the afternoon. Add some apples, let the Prunes soak in rum instead of water, and toss in some clove, ginger, and cinammon, and might even have a nice start at a Jamaican Black Cake. For now, we’ll leave it for what it is…
To get started, just gather your ingredients together. As you can see, there aren’t many ingredients in this recipe, so getting ready should be a quick 5 minutes. I would still allow a good two hours to go from start to finish, as you’ll need to soak the fruit in water for a good hour or so.
As I was saying…take your prunes and your raisins and soak them in a bath of water for an hour. Alternatively, but not ideally, you can try microwaving them for 60 seconds. If they don’t look like they’ve plumped up, repeat twice more. If you let them sit in the water, you’ll likely see the water turn a little brown as the juices from the fruit flow back into the water-a sign of good things to come…
Preheat your oven to 325 F. Drain your fruit and pat them dry before tossing into your stand mixer. Add 1 tsp of baking soda and 3/4 cup of boiling water and stir the mixture for 2-3 seconds just so the baking soda spreads around evenly. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. You’ll hear some bubbling as the baking soda reacts with the fruit (or at least I think that’s what the sound is)! A this stage, the mixture should resemble the photo below…
Add the rest of your ingredients. First the sugar, then the butter, then the egg, then the dry ingredients (flour and salt) and combine thoroughly like…so…
Ooh. This batter tastes delicious! Try and save some for the bread itself. Grease up a loaf pan with butter and empty the mixture from your stand mixer into the pan trying as best as you can to spread it evenly across the pan.
Place in the oven for 40 minutes. Test the loaf’s readiness, by inserting a toothpick in the center. When the toothpick comes out with nothing on it, you’ll know that it’s done. If it’s not done, pop it in the over for a few more minutes and test again. When you’re ready, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let the prune & raisin bread cool. Slice yourself a piece or two and enjoy!
- ½ lb prunes
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- ¾ cup boiling water
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 egg
- 1¾ cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- Soak your fruit in water for an hour
- Preheat your oven to 325 F
- Drain your prunes and raisins and pat dry.
- Chop the fruit and place into a stand mixer along with ¾ cup boiling water and 1 tsp of baking soda
- Add the rest of your ingredients slowly. First the sugar, then the butter, then the egg, then the dry ingredients.
- Empty the mixture into a greased loaf pan and place into the oven for 40 minutes
- Remove from the oven and allow prune and raisin bread to cool on a cooling rack
- Slice and enjoy!
TheGrumpyGourmand is a rug-rat of a cook always up for a challenge. A former cookie stealer. A bakers apprentice. A hacker in the kitchen. Starting with a few basic skills, he's undergoing a challenge to cook his way from novice to expert starting in 2015. 
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