For the filling – add the prunes to a medium-sized sauce pan with enough water to cover them.  Bring all to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the prunes are very tender, then drain them, but reserve the liquid.

Leave the prunes to cool until they’re safe to handle, then puree them in a small chopper or blender before adding them back into the same pot.  Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and 1/3 cup of the reserved prune juice – if you don’t have enough, just top it up with water, you may need to add more water anyway.  Bring the new mix back to a boil while stirring and then reduce to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until it thickens up and the sugar is obviously dissolved.  You want the consistency of thick jam.  Remove from the heat when done and leave to cool completely before using.  If making ahead, scoop it all into a well sealed container and refrigerate.

For the dough – whisk together the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of your electric mixer and in a 4-cup measuring cup, whisk together the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved, then whisk in the melted butter, egg and yolks.  Use your dough hook on low speed and gradually pour the milk mix into the flour mix.  Keep mixing until the dough starts to come together, stopping the mixer to scrape down the bowl as needed.  Increase the speed to medium and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough pulls away from the sides but is still sticky and soft.  Use the bowl and your hands to roll the dough into a ball and then drop it into a lightly greased medium -sized bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Use the proof setting on your oven or a cozy warm corner to leave this first rise for about an hour and a half.  This dough is heavy, so it really needs the full 90 minutes to double in size.  **Unrisen dough can remain covered and refrigerated overnight if you wanted to…but leave the dough for about an hour to come to room temperature before shaping.**

Lightly grease 2, 8 x 8 baking pans (or 1, 9 x 13) and line both ways with parchment – I use metal clips to pin the parchment in place (the clips also help hold the plastic wrap on later).

Here’s where I combined recipes.  After it’s doubled in size, punch it down, weigh it, and divide by 2.  I wrap a portion of my counter in plastic wrap to aid clean-up but you can also just flour the surface you’re working on.  Roll out each portion into an approximate 12 x 12-inch square and then slice each evenly into 9 squares.  Drop a full tablespoon of the prune filling into the middle of each square, then pinch up opposing corners like a dumpling and place evenly spaced in your prepared pans in 3 lines of 3.  You may need to stretch, pull or pinch more than you’d like and they won’t be perfect but they’ll work!

Cover again with plastic wrap and leave to rise for another hour and a half to 2 hours.  After they’ve risen you may need to re-pinch a couple of them.

Preheat the oven to 350, lightly brush all visible dough with cream and sprinkle generously with sugar, then bake for about 25 minutes until the bread portion reaches 200 degrees.  They are absolutely best served warm as fresh bread dries out rather quickly!