Every so often, I treat myself to a bag of Agen prunes. In my opinion, they’re far superior to the usual supermarket prunes. They’re great straight out of the packet and chopped up and added to a bowl of porridge or cereal. I also like cooking with them – like I did with this marzipan-stuffed prune flan.

I made a few little tweaks to the original recipe that I found in my Cordon Bleu Winter Puddings cookery book.

Special Agen prunes aren’t necessary for the dish; any dried, whole, pitted prunes are suitable. I used an equivalent quantity of Pedro Ximénez sweet sherry instead of the red wine stipulated. I also substituted the redcurrant jelly for some damson jam given to us at Christmas by a neighbour. Feel free to swap the original ingredients back in, if that’s what you’d prefer!

This dish, at first, may seem a bit of a convoluted one to make. Don’t be put off, just break things down into phases; it’s well worth the effort. If necessary, some stages can be done days in advance; soaking the prunes and making the almond pastry.

You could even make it the day before you plan to serve it. Be aware though, because of the cream and the egg white, the flan should be kept chilled in the fridge.

The flan is rich and decadent, a lovely dessert course for a dinner party. Serve a slice at the end of the meal accompanied by a glass of sweet sherry or other dessert wine such as Muscat or Madeira.

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Marzipan-stuffed prune flan

Cordon Bleu - Winter Puddings

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Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Ingredients

  

For the prune topping

• 350 g/¾oz prunes
• ¼ pt sweet sherry
• 3 tbsps damson jam

For the pastry

• 170 g/6oz plain flour
• 45 g/1½oz ground almonds
• 45 g/1½oz caster sugar
• 115 g/4oz butter cold, cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 1-2 tbsps cold water

For the custard cream

• 1 rounded tbsp custard powder
• 150 ml/¼pt whole milk
• 150 ml/¼pt double cream
• 1 tsp caster sugar

For the almond filling

• 60 g/2oz ground almonds
• 1½ tsp caster sugar
• 1½ egg white beaten

Instructions

 

For the prune topping

• Soak the prunes in the sherry for 2-3 hours
• In a lidded saucepan, simmer the prunes in the sherry until tender
• Lift the prunes our of the saucepan using a slotted spoon and set aside to cool
• Cut the prunes carefully down one side and remove stones (ignore this step if you bought pitted fruit)
• Add the damson jam to the liquor and set on a low heat to melt, whisking and straining at the end, if necessary, to get a smooth glaze

For the pastry

• Using a food processor, pulse together the flour, ground almonds and caster sugar with the cold cubes of butter. When the mixture looks uniformly crumbly, add the egg yolk and sprinkle a tablespoon of cold water evenly over the top and continue to pulse until the mixture comes together into a ball. Add another tablespoon of water if necessary
• Cool the ball of pastry, in a zip-lock bag, in the fridge for half an hour to an hour
• Roll out the pastry and line a 18-20cm/7-8" diameter flan dish
• Bake blind
• Set aside to cool

For the custard cream

• In a small saucepan, mix the custard powder and milk to a paste. Using a wire whisk, stir over a gentle heat until boiling
• Tip into a steep-sided mixing bowl and whisk well
• When well cooled, whip the double cream, sweeten with the sugar and fold into the custard

For the almond filling (marzipan)

• Using a (mini) food processor, pulse together the ground almonds, caster sugar and egg white until it forms a ball
• To bring everything together
• Carefully stuff each prune with about a teaspoon of the marzipan
• Fill the cooled flan case with the custard cream mixture, spreading it evenly
• Arrange the filled prunes evenly over the top of the custard cream trying to cover it completely
• Brush or spoon the glaze over the top
• Slice and serve

Keyword flan, fruit tart, marzipan, prunes