- Posted January 27, 2013 by
This iReport is part of an assignment:
Who taught you to love food?
Preparing Desserts Using Red Fruits
In preparing dishes, particularly desserts, the appearance of the dish is very important, as this gives a teaser on the flavors and nutrients to expect. Similar to how the color green whets the appetite when it comes to salads and vegetable dishes, red fruits in desserts are an indication of the nutrients present on the plate.
The spectrum of red shades of fruits from light pink pomegranates, pale red watermelon and raspberries to deep scarlet cherries and blood oranges, indicate the bounty of health benefits. Studies show that several varieties of red fruits contain potent many phytochemicals and anti-oxidants that help heal the body from inflammation, prevent diseases such as urinary tract infections and contribute to reducing the risk of certain types of cancers.
With this promising information, go and enjoy red fruit as a snack or prepare it in a variety of desserts from fruit salad to pies to custards, flans, gelatin and frozen confections like sorbets and ice cream. One may ask what happens if the red coloring of the fruits are lost either by peeling (like apples) or cooking the fruit (like baking these in a pie or poaching it in wine)? Vegetarians, vegans and nutritionists claim that certain nutrients, particularly heat sensitive compounds are greatly diminished as fruits are heated.
The solution raw vegans propose is to prepare everything raw with minimal or no application of heat. Rather than baking a pie, stewing fruit or baking it into a cake or pastry, serve red fruits raw instead as a salad, simply drizzled with a little citrus juice from lemons, lime or oranges. Want to keep it red? You can make a dressing using the juice of blood orange or puree more red fruit and combine with yoghurt.
You can also make your own unique ice cream or sorbet flavor by just tossing them in an ice cream maker or blender and freezing it up with your preferred sweetener, with or without dairy (milk and cream).
Play around with the texture of fruits when combining them together: crisp and juicy watermelon, fleshy cherries, juicy blood orange segments and even the gritty but edible seeds from strawberries and raspberries. These go well eaten alone or combined together with other fruits. Present them artfully in skewers or in a bowl made from a young coconut shell or a hollowed out melon. A dish need not all be red as it may actually not look all that appealing. Instead, combine with other colorful fruits like cantaloupe, kiwi and bananas. For added texture and fiber, add granola and/or dried fruits (red ones include cranberries and goji berry, considered a super food for its antioxidant content).