Can I Use Tinned Prunes For The Luscious Vegan Gingerbread?

Our answer

Nigella's Luscious Vegan Gingerbread (from COOK, EAT, REPEAT) is a moist and sticky gingerbread that can be enjoyed by everyone. The ingredients include pitted prunes, which are roughly chopped. As the gingerbread bakes the prunes melt into the sponge, in a similar way to dates melting into a sticky toffee sponge.

Prunes also contain a high proportion of a type of sugar called sorbitol. This sugar is particularly good for helping baked goods to remain moist and contributes to the "squidge" in the gingerbread. Unfortunately we don't think that using drained, tinned prunes is a good idea. The prunes in the recipe are soft but are still partially dried, and they will absorb some moisture in the cake batter. Canned prunes are fully hydrated and will most likely leach liquid out into the cake batter, making it too runny and affecting the way the cake bakes. Soft (ready to eat) prunes can be found in most supermarkets and it is easy to remove the stones (pits) if you can't find prunes that are already pitted.