The Oscars - A Celebration of Food & Film: 1943 Best Picture - Casablanca, Pt. 6

Now before you crinkle your nose at the thought of eating prunes remember one thing, these bite-sized fruits are one of the most popular food products in the world. They are also loaded with nutrients and most of the essential minerals your body needs and in many cases, craves! Add to these facts the prunes in this dish are stuffed with whole almonds (another incredible food for your body) and you have a pretty damn decent combination. Okay, there is also heavy cream involved but hey, this isn't a perfect world.

Every area of the Middle East has their version of this classic dessert. What I particularly love about the Moroccan version is that they steep their prunes in tea! This gives the prunes a wonderful exotic aura and I must admit, once the prunes are done steeping, you also have a pretty intense and tasty beverage!

Ingredients for Moroccan Almond Stuffed Prunes (serves 4):

• 1 pound dried prunes
• 2 cups boiling water
• Equal amount of whole almonds to prunes
• 4 tea bags (black tea will work fine)
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 Tbs. powdered sugar

Steps:

1. Place the prunes in a large heat-proof bowl.
2. Steep the tea in the boiling water until very strong (just as if you were making a large cup of tea).
3. Pour the tea over the prunes, cover and let soak overnight.
4. Drain the prunes and if they did not come already pitted, with a sharp paring knife, make a slit in the middle of the prune and push out the pit. Discard the pits.
5. Into the cavity where the pit was, insert a whole almond.
6. In a medium saucepan over medium heat whisk together the sugar, lemon juice and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer 3 minutes.
7. Add the prunes to the saucepan, cover and cook 30 minutes.
8. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool.
9. In a medium bowl whisk the whipping cream and powdered sugar to form soft peaks (meaning it will droop and not stand on its own).
10. Remove the prunes with a slotted spoon and place into serving bowls. Top each serving with a dollop of whipped cream and serve.

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