Squid Cooks: Prunes in Armagnac

Armagnac was another of my big finds at State Street Wine, Beer & Spirits.  Armagnac, like cognac, is a variety of brandy.  It is made from a grape blend whereas cognac is made predominantly from Ugni blanc grapes.  Armagnac is distilled in column stills rather than the pot stills of its more famous cousin.  

One fun thing to do with armagnac is to soak prunes in it.  David Lebovitz's recipe, from Drinking French, also includes water, sugar, vanilla and orange zest in the soaking mixture.  You put everything in a jar and let it sit for two weeks or even several months, shaking every few days.  While the recipe calls for the scrapings from a vanilla bean, I went with vanilla paste - same stuff and much cheaper.  Finding the right prunes was a bit of a challenge, too.  The recipe calls for unpitted prunes - they probably hold together better in the soaking.

We tried them after two weeks.  They're nice - definitely boozy.  I'll be interested to see how they age, presumably soaking up more of the armagnac over time.  Ultimately, they'll end up in a cocktail, of course.  Stay tuned.