by Pia Rowe

Who would’ve thought that the humble little prune could be transformed into something so decadent that you will happily skip dessert for one of these little fellows.

The prunes are first soaked in liquor of your choice (which makes this a strictly adults only treat!), then filled with a nugget of home made almond paste and finally dipped in rich dark chocolate.

I’ve used Grand Marnier here, but don’t let that stop you from experimenting with other liquors. Rum would go especially well with prunes, and given the almond paste filling, I think Amaretto wouldn’t be amiss either.

These are the perfect option for when your belly is so full of turkey that you couldn’t possibly fit in another morsel, and yet your brains and palate are yelling that the meal is not complete until you’ve had your sweet treat.

Ingredients:

250g pitted prunes

1 cup water

¼ cup sugar

1 cup Grand Marnier

For the filling:

½ cup almonds

½ cup icing sugar

1 tbls water

200g good quality dark chocolate

Method:

Place the sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to boil. Let simmer for about 10 minutes till it’s syrupy.

Add the Grand Marnier and heat it to a boiling point one more time.

Remove from the heat and cool down.

Add the prunes and let them marinate overnight.

Mix the almonds and icing sugar in the food processor, and process into a fine paste. If the mixture is too crumbly and not sticking together, add a tablespoon of water. Alternatively, you can buy readymade marzipan from the shops and use that instead.

Drain the prunes. Using the hole from which the pip was removed, push in a half a teaspoon of the almond paste.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave, and dip in the prunes, making sure to coat them evenly.

Once the chocolate is set, you can put them in individual mini muffin wrappers to make them really stand out.