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Russian Prune Pudding
Pick over and wash through several waters 1 pound of large prunes and let soak over night.
Next day turn them into a double boiler and simmer slowly until tender. Sweeten to taste, and when cool enough to handle carefully remove the pits. To the syrup add 1/3 of a box of gelatine, which has been soaked in 1/2 of a cupful of cold water and heated gently until dissolved. Set aside to cool. Have ready some almonds which have been blanched and split. When the jelly begins to thicken dip into it the almonds and decorate the sides of a mold with them, then carefully fill with layers of the fruit and jelly, setting aside several times, if necessary, to allow the layers to stiffen. Serve very cold with cream, which is sweetened to taste and flavored with a few drops of extract of almond.
A prune jelly turned out of a mold — the hinge is the gelatine ratio, since the original measures it by a box that no longer exists in that form.
- "1/3 of a box of gelatine"A standard box of granulated gelatine of this era generally held about 1 oz, divided into four envelopes of roughly 1/4 oz each — about the size of a modern envelope, some 2 1/4 teaspoons. A third of a box is therefore about 1 1/3 envelopes, roughly 3 teaspoons, though box sizes varied between brands.
- Match the gelatine to the syrupMeasure the cooking liquid before you set anything. One envelope firmly sets 2 cups; for a jelly that must stand up out of a mold, count on one envelope per 1 1/2 cups of liquid. If the prunes have thrown off less syrup than that, top up with water or their soaking liquid rather than guessing.
- Soaking and simmeringModern packaged prunes are sold partly hydrated and rarely need a full night. Two to three hours in cold water is enough, and 20-30 minutes at a bare simmer will bring them to tenderness. The double boiler was insurance against scorching a thick sugary syrup; a heavy saucepan over low heat does the same.
- PittingBuying pitted prunes skips the fussiest step, though whole prunes hold their shape better in the layers. If you pit them yourself, slit along one side rather than tearing them in half.
- Blanched almondsCover shelled almonds with boiling water for a minute and the skins slip off between finger and thumb. Split them while still damp — dry blanched almonds shatter instead of halving cleanly.
- Decorating the moldThe jelly must be at the consistency of raw egg white before the almonds will cling to the sides. Too warm and they slide to the bottom; too cool and the later layers will not bond. Chill the mold itself first, and work in a cool room.
- Setting timeEach layer needs 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator to firm before the next goes on, and the finished pudding wants at least 4 hours, better overnight. To unmold, dip the mold in warm water for 10 seconds and invert onto a cold plate.
- YieldOne pound of prunes with the jelly should roughly fill a 1 to 1 1/2 quart mold and serve about six. The recipe says only that it is served very cold with the sweetened almond cream.
Fruit set in gelatine was a fixture of American dessert cookery in the later nineteenth century, once commercially packaged granulated gelatine made the old labor of boiling calves' feet unnecessary and put a molded jelly within reach of a modest household. The "Russian" label attached to prune and dried-fruit puddings of the period and is best read as a gesture at Northern and Eastern European cooking, where dried plums, almonds and sweetened cream do appear together, rather than as evidence of a particular Russian original. Prunes earned their place honestly: they kept indefinitely without ice, cost a fraction of fresh fruit, and swelled generously in water, so a single pound could be stretched into a company dessert that looked far more expensive than it was.