Saturday 31 December 2011

Fruit puree

I'm not really a big fruit fan so I'm always trying to find ways to work more into my diet. This benefits you, dear readers, because aside from the nutritional benefits of fruit, they can be a great alternative source of sweetness if you're trying to avoid or altogether don't eat refined sugars.

One fail-safe approach is to make a fruit puree. I like to use apples and stone fruit, either alone or in any one of a number of combinations depending on what I've got in the fridge. All you do is peel and core/stone the fruit, cut them into roughly inch-square cubes (very rough - don't think too much about it!), then put them in an uncovered saucepan with a slosh of water to help get things going over a low to medium heat. You basically want it all to be simmering along gently until the fruit softens enough for you to give it a quick whiz with a bar mix, creating a lovely, indulgent puree.

If you want to dress things up a little, you could add honey to taste or experiment with different spices - apples with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg is one delicious example.

I find fruit puree great on its own as a dessert or sweet treat, or I store it in a jar in the fridge ready to be spooned over porridge.