Those summers in France: fresh, ripe apricots and cherries that we bought by the roadside, relished, and whose pits we children spat out the window of the moving car … pain d'épice, the typically French spiced bread, which should by no means only be eaten at Christmas but also gladly in over 30°C ... Carambars (yes, even gourmet daughters are not immune to industrial sugar and stupid jokes on candy wrappers ...) and of course the Pruneaux d'Agen: so wonderfully sweet, so sticky, so deep black-purple, so good!
For me, the Pruneaux d'Agen are among the most beautiful culinary memories of my childhood summers.
Since last week, we finally have these exquisite prunes in our range as well. And I must say that the prunes from Marc Peyrey are even better than I remembered: they are simply much juicier and more aromatic.
If you are not sure what to do with them: you can simply eat them as they are or cook them in savory dishes, e.g. oriental tajine or duck breast with prunes ...
Today, however, I want to start with a simple and quick dessert, true to the motto "first things first". And there is a very classic dessert that is sold in almost every bakery in Brittany and was once invented by Breton sailors: the Far Breton aux Pruneaux, a kind of flan with prunes.
I stole the recipe below from Aurélie Bastien's blog "French Cooking", which she in turn got from the grandmother of a Breton friend. So if that's not a reference ...!
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 1/2 liter milk
- 50 grams sugar
- 100 grams flour
- 30 grams salted raw milk butter
- 6 eggs (available in our shop)
- 100 grams Pruneaux d'Agen (prunes)
- 3 tablespoons rum or as an alcohol-free alternative black tea (rum is also available from us)
- Warm water
Preparation:
- Heat the milk, sugar and butter together until the butter and sugar have melted.
- Meanwhile, let the prunes steep with the rum (or a tea bag) and the hot water for about 5 minutes. Pat the prunes dry (e.g. with kitchen paper) and coat them in a little flour.
- Whisk the eggs and flour together and slowly pour in the milk mixture.
- Pour the batter into a mold and distribute the prunes inside.
- Bake for 40 minutes at 180°C fan oven.
- Bon appétit!
At the first bite of the still warm Far, I found it very eggy (is that even a word?) and would have said, feel free to leave out one of the specified 6 eggs. Once cooled, however, it tasted absolutely balanced and my French father opined that a Far Breton should taste exactly like that ... So everything was done right after all :)
Two small tips at the end: first, I think our Pruneaux d'Agen are so aromatic and great in themselves that soaking in rum/tea is not strictly necessary. But that is, of course, entirely up to you ...
And second, in my opinion, the Far is enough for more than 4 people. I would plan it for about 6.
And now it's your turn. Have fun making and enjoying it!
Our wine recommendation: classically, a red wine that is not too tannic naturally pairs well with such a concentrated dessert. Or also a nice Port!
However, I tried it this week with our new Portuguese white wine Manda Chuva and was delighted by this combination. It has a crisp fruit and a nice salty minerality that balances this somewhat compact flan well.
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You can find the original recipe on www.franzoesisch-kochen.de
