What it Means to be Perfect: Chocolate coated dried plums marinated in white wine and a hint of thyme
February 11, 2011 § 9 Comments
Chocolate coated dried plums
When in Belgium I went to visit my great aunty and uncle Yvonne and Jos in the small town of Bellingen. Oom Jos just turned 90 and Tante Yvonne isn’t far behind. We ate cake with a fork and knife before a dinner of witlof wrapped in ham and baked in snowy white sauce. This is a very traditional Flemish dish. As a child I was always glad witlof was so hard to find in Australia so it rarely ended up in my mother’s kitchen. But now I enjoy it in small amounts provided there’s plenty of ham and sauce to go around.
During the Flemish conversations around the dinner table I mostly daydreamed at the paintings on the wall and marvelled at the young spirit of my aunt and uncle gossiping and laughing about the local goings on. At one point, the conversation briefly turned to English and my uncle proclaimed,
Tante Yvonn and Oom Jos
‘No one is perfect.’
Then after reflecting on this statement for a while he continued,
‘Except for my wife! She is Perfect. She cleans and cooks all day. She is perfect… only problem is she has no time for making love. She is too busy. She never has time to kiss me.’
I am always struck when I see an old relationship full of humour, love and adoration like this one, a little reminder that life can indeed be great, full of warmth and happiness.
So because the conversation here is about love and perfection and because it is almost Valentines Day and because I am sadly alone with my darling still in Africa, I have decided it is most suitable I share this recipe so perfect and delicious it will make you weak at the knees and your heart melt. Well at least I hope so.
I got the idea of chocolate covered prunes from Stephanie Alexanders book The Cooks Companion. She stuffs them with almonds and soaks them in brandy. I have adapted it some by using white wine and adding a few little bits and pieces for extra freshness. I think the thyme and lemon zest brings something unique and light to the richness of the chocolate. I also changed the terminology a bit because for something with a valentine spirit ‘prunes’ doesn’t really have the right um… connotations in regards to some of its well known uses. Dried plums on the other hand….
Recipe for Chocolate Coated Dried Plums
You will need
30 pitted prunes
30 almonds
3/4 cup white wine
Juice of an orange
Sprig of thyme
Zest of 1/4 of a lemon
200g dark cooking chocolate
Stuff an almond into each prune where the pip would have been and place in a bowl along with the white wine, orange juice, thyme and lemon zest. Allow to soak for 1 – 2 hours then drain well.
drain well
Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.
Melted chocolate
Dip each prune into the chocolate. Allow to cool in the fridge on a tray covered with baking paper until the chocolate sets.
Allow to cool on baking paper
Serve on a pretty plate and eat with someone special.
Enjoy!!
the invisible cookbook 
Love the photo of my aunt and uncle!!! don’t they look young for their age?
And the chocolates!! Wish I could taste one!!!
I know, that was what I thought too, they look so young. Except you could tell Jos was losing a few of his marbles, he was always a bit crazy but he seemed even more so when i saw him this time.
xx
How could I forget these…..I think I had about 6 before I thought people are watching and counting so I should stop. Thanks for this recipe it’s going straight into my Invisible Cookbook folder !!
oh yay. I hope you enjoy them just as much this time. Just think, you can eat as many as you want without anybody watching you. But you know 6 was probably my average as well, and i did it every week. Oh dear.
Such an unusual idea – I bet these are fabulous. I love orange, thyme and white wine together – it’s quite a greek sounding combination I think. Does it matter what kind of white wine you use (e.g something quite dry or more of a chardonnay type of bottle?)
Hello there Sophie,
I prefer to use a more dry wine and not something too sweet. But really it doesn’t matter what wine you use, you will just end up with a different result. They all work in their own way. If you are using dry white and you want something a bit sweeter or lighter just add a teaspoon of sugar to the marinade.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hello,
We tried these on the weekend (with apricots as well as prunes)and they were both sooo good! Will be making them again this weekend (hopefully they don’t dissapear as quickly this time).
So glad you enjoyed them, they are such a treat. Oh and good idea with the apricot too, yum.
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