Award-winning chocolatier Paul A Young has been working with the Californian Prune Board to develop a range of chocolate prune products for his shops.
Young recently introduced a Prune and Pepper Caramel Brownie and Prune and Porter truffles, which achieved record sales of 1,200 truffles in two weeks.
Following the success of these products, he is now working on some festive products, with suggestions including a Plum Pudding Dome, featuring prunes soaked in Armagnac, and a Plum Pudding Brownie, using chopped prunes.
The California Prune Board (Europe) said the use of prunes in bakery is rising. This year’s Heston From Waitrose Chocolate Christmas Cake, which contains prunes, saw increased volumes used this year - up 50% on 2012. Other products hitting the market include Morrisons’ Free From Chocolate Pudding and Free From Ginger Cake Slice - using Prune Purée.
A spokesperson for the Board said: “Export figures are now at nearly four thousand metric tonnes and eaten predominantly as a healthy snacking ingredient, but increasingly food manufacturers are buying prunes as an inclusion product. Quantity sales and the number of food manufacturers in the bakery and confectionery sector have increased significantly this year.”
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