Using fruit as a healthy substitute in cooking

Being an avid user of Twitter I tend to be logged on to the site all day every day.  I find it a fascinating way to keep up with the goings on in the world.  During a regular day of being nosey and seeing what everyone had to shout about I noticed a tweet that took my interest.  It mentioned that fruit can be used as a substitute for certain ingredients in baking.  This struck a particular chord with me because here at Simply Nectar we know only too well that fruit can be used instead of sugar.  Simply Nectar drinks don’t contain any refined sugars.  If the drinks need sweetening at all we just add a dash of grape juice.  That is all they need.   Knowing this I was then intrigued to find out more about other ways fruit can be used to sweeten products and what else it can replace.  My curiosity encouraged me to delve deeper into the subject and this is what I found out.

Fruit can be used to replace artificial sugars and sweeteners in most recipes.  You can swap about half a cup of fruit for one cup of sugar.  It can be used in all forms too – from liquid to solid.  Fruit juice – such as Simply Nectar (of course!) – can be used to add sweetness to food.  If you want to juice your own fruit then you can obviously do this but make sure you use the fruit pulp as well as the juice because this can thicken as well as sweeten.  Another thick liquid you can use is apple sauce.  This can be used as a healthy replacement to butter and oil as it has similar properties to these ingredients.  It allows the finished product to retain its moisture so deducting oil or butter from the recipe won’t dry it out.

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Purees are also a good way to add sweetness and the trusty apple can be used once again.  An apple puree will work especially well in many baked goods.  Pear and prune puree can also work well as they can replace a significant amount of sugar in cake mixtures in particular.  You can even play around with sweet vegetable purees like pumpkin, sweet potato or butternut squash.  They all add nutritional benefits.  You could try using the purees with spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg.   You can make your own puree or sauce by simmering one cup of water with around a quarter of a cup of fruit for about an hour.

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As well as pureeing the fruit, you can use overripe fruits such as pears, bananas, figs and mangoes.  If you drain off the excess juice from these fruits then you can usually use an equal ratio of fruit to sugar.  Overripe fruit doesn’t just have to be added to recipes either.  Why not mash it up to form a paste which can then be used as a topping.  Smother it on toast, bagels or muffins instead of jam or chocolate spread.

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Another option is to use the zest of a lemon, orange or lime to add sweetness and enhance the fruitiness of a dish.  Dried fruits also work well.  Try fruits such as plums, apricots, raisins and cranberries.  When fruit is dried it retains its natural sugars and so can provide bursts of sweetness if used in baking.  Take caution though.  Dried fruit is very dense so it needs to be used in small quantities in particular recipes, otherwise it may ruin the end product.  It may sink to the bottom of the mixture or not get distributed equally. 



Image courtesy of Rawich / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So there we have it; the proof that fruit can be used in lots of ways and can be used to replace many ingredients.  We all for getting rid of added sugar in food and drinks and now you can help us.  Stop including artificial sugars and sweeteners in your recipes and start using fruit.  It’s pure, natural goodness and by the sounds of it it’s also very easy to use.  Give it a try and see for yourself.

Simply fruit,

Simply Nectar