Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Chow down on those wrinkly wonders

California Prune And Duck Tartare Tartlets.
California Prune And Duck Tartare Tartlets.

With surveys suggesting most of us don’t eat enough fibre, Jeananne Craig sings the praises of the humble prune

 

Wolfing down fashionable foods like avocados, almonds and acai berries – and reaping their nutritional benefits in the process – may be all the rage, but the humble prune shouldn’t be forgotten. Granted, a serving of these fragrant fruits might seem a lot less glamorous than, say, a fresh green smoothie or a handful of chia seeds, but these wrinkly wonders have all sorts of health advantages – not least when it comes to your digestive system.

 

Research has revealed that around eight in 10 of us don’t get enough fibre in our diet, while recent studies have found that the average fibre intake of UK adults is 18.4g per day – that’s 26% less than the recommended dietary fibre intake of 25g per day. However, just three prunes (which are simply plums with the water removed) will amount to one of your five-a-day, ensuring you get that bit closer to your daily target – and help keep everything ticking over nicely in the bathroom department.

 

They’re also a good source of potassium, which helps maintain normal blood pressure, and vitamin B6 and copper, which support the immune and nervous systems, and vitamin K and manganese for bone maintenance.

 

HOW TO EAT MORE
According to celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager, there are a number of ways to incorporate this super-healthy foodstuff into our busy lives. “To me, prunes are a ’superfood’. They’re healthy, great for kids, they’ll fill you up, they’re substantial,” she says. “I like a packet in my car instead of a bag of sweets, because I do a lot of driving and they’re naturally sweet.”

The cook and author has teamed up with California Prunes to come up with some tasty prune-based dishes, including prune and salted caramel cream, and prune and duck tartare tartlets.

“Prunes are so versatile and you can do so much with them.

 

You can make them sophisticated, homely, any way at all,” says Shrager. “You can sweeten something with prunes instead of sugar, it’s a much healthier product to use. I’ve always been a fan.”

 

DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE SUGAR
Dietician Jennette Higgs agrees that, instead of reaching for a fizzy drink or a bar of chocolate when we fancy a sweet fix, it’s a good idea to stock up on prunes instead.

“The sugar provided in whole fruits is not a problem, as this is in a form that is much more filling and more slowly digested in the body,” she adds. “People should not be put off eating whole fruits, either fresh or dried, in their quest to reduce sugar intake.”

 

PRUNE RECIPES TO TRY AT HOME

 

If you want to make room for prunes in your life, here are two recipes from Rosemary Shrager and California Prunes.

 

California Prune And Duck Tartare Tartlets

 

California Prune And Duck Tartare Tartlets.
California Prune And Duck Tartare Tartlets.

 

Makes 16

 

For the duck tartare:

80g California prunes, finely chopped

350g duck breast, skinned

1tbsp Hoisin sauce

1 chilli, finely chopped

4tbsp chopped coriander

1 spring onion, diced

 

For the pastry:

115g plain flour

10g cornflour

25g icing sugar

20g butter

1 egg

Drop of milk

 

Very finely dice the duck then mix with the rest of the ingredients. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for an hour to marinate. Mix together the flour, cornflour and icing sugar then rub in the butter til the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the milk and egg and mix well, making a dough. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least half an hour. Roll out the dough very thinly and line mini tart tins with the pastry, then bake blind for 15 minutes at 180C. When cool, put a teaspoon of duck tartare in each pastry case.

 

 

 

California Prune And Salted Caramel Cream

 

 

California Prune And Salted Caramel Cream.
California Prune And Salted Caramel Cream.

Serves 8

 

 

For the California prune puree:

150g California prunes

Peel of one orange

25g caster sugar

Water to cover

Juice of half a lemon

Rum for soaking

 

For the salted caramel cream:

300ml double cream

100ml full fat milk

125g caster sugar

3g gelatine leaf

2tbsp water

6 large egg yolks

2tsp Maldon salt

 

First make the California prune puree. Put the prunes into a medium saucepan and cover with water. Put in the orange peel, lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a low simmer for about 20 minutes. You may need to top up with a little more water. Leave to cool and then drain well, reserving the juice. Remove eight California prunes for garnish and soak them in rum, allowing them to steep for an hour. Now remove the orange peel and put the rest of the California prunes into a liquidizer to puree. If you need to thin it out a tiny bit, add a small amount of the reserved liquid. Cover the puree and leave until needed.

 

 

Meanwhile, to make the caramel cream, put the gelatine leaf into cold water to soften. Put the cream and milk into a small pan to bring to the boil, then turn off the heat. In another pan, add the water and sugar and slowly bring to the boil and then allow it to turn into a light caramel. Remove from the heat and very slowly add the hot cream bit by bit to the sugar. Now put in the Maldon salt and stir until well combined.

 

Put the egg yolks into a large bowl and whisk well. Add the hot caramel milk and cream, pour back into a clean saucepan and slowly bring up to heat to make a custard cream. Only take it up to 84C, being careful not to heat it too high, otherwise the mixture will curdle. Remove from the heat, squeeze the water from the gelatine and add it to the cream. Stir until it has dissolved. Place one or two of the prunes in the base of eight small glasses and pour over the caramel cream.

 

Put the dessert into the fridge for four hours to set. Now add a thin layer of California prune puree, and top with some caramel shards to serve.

 

For more prune inspiration, visit www.californiaprunes.co.uk