Prunes

Prunes come from plums from the Agen plum tree. This variety of plum was developed in France in the 1500s, and brought to America in the mid 1800s. It has very, very sweet fruit and the sweeter the better, as just as a little sugar encourages fermentation, a lot discourages it, and you want Prunes to dry, not ferment. And, as an important bonus, the Agen plum is one of the few plums that are freestone — the flesh separating easily from the pit.