Colorado Gourmet: Easy Desserts Using Fruit Purees

Individual cobblers using fruit puree are ready to bake.

Last month we discussed making fruit purees (https://mothernaturesmontrosegarden.blogspot.com/2019/11/colorado-gourmet-making-fruit-purees.html). Fruit purees are an easy way to preserve summer’s bounty.  And they are a handy pantry staple, particularly during busy times like December.  We’d like to share a few easy desert ideas using fruit purees.

The easiest way to utilize fruit purees is to use them to top a bowl of ice cream or a slice of cake.  They make either look dressier, and their flavor adds a needed zing to an otherwise bland dessert.

But maybe you need something that’s a little more refined (but still easy to make). Here are three dessert ideas for you to try.

Holiday cheesecake

Top prepared, chilled cheesecake (home-made or store bought) with a ¼ inch layer of fruit puree.  Refrigerate to chill topping before serving.

  

The puree adds a layer of complexity to plain cheesecake.  The colors make the dessert more festive, particularly if red colored purees are used.  And the flavor of fruit purees adds just the right sweet-tart note to complement the cheesecake.

Holiday Parfaits  

Here’s another easy idea that makes a festive dessert for the holiday season.

Ingredients

Vanilla pudding (prepared and cooled) or vanilla yoghurt (your choice)

1 pint preserved (or frozen and thawed) fruit puree (red color is nice)

1 cup crushed cookies* (your choice; vanilla wafers, graham crackers, etc.)



Instructions

Layer pudding, puree and cookie crumbles* in parfait cups or glasses, starting with a layer of pudding.  Pudding layers should be about 1 inch deep.  Use 2 tablespoons of puree and 1 Tablespoon of cookie crumbles for each layer.   Top last layer with whipped cream (if desired)

* place cookies in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.  You can also substitute granola for the cookie crumbles

Sweet-tart pear cobbler with fruit puree.  Yum!

Sweet-Tart Individual Cobblers

These cobblers are baked in 4- to 6-ounce, oven-safe ramekins or souffle dishes.  The cobblers can be made with your choice of biscuit topping: sweetened biscuit mix; your favorite biscuit recipe (sweetened just a little); or using ready to bake biscuits. 

The sweet flavor of the pears contrasts beautifully with the tart zest of the fruit puree.  You can serve these cobblers hot (or re-warmed in the micro-wave), cold or at room temperature. They can be baked ahead of time, making them a good choice for the busy holiday season.  And a baked dessert tastes just right on cold winter nights. 

Sweet-tart Cobblers - before placing biscuit top.

Ingredients

3-5 medium to large, ripe pears

1 pint preserved (or frozen and thawed) fruit puree

Biscuit mix or ready to bake biscuits

1/3 cup sugar



Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.   Wash, peel and core pears.  Cut into ¼ inch chunks.  Divide pear chunks between 6 to 8 ramekins.  The pears should cover about half of the depth of the ramekin.  Top pears with 2 Tablespoons of fruit puree.   Top puree with un-baked biscuit rounds that are slightly smaller than the diameter of the ramekins.  If making biscuits from mix or scratch, add 1/3 cup sugar per 2 cups biscuit mix.  Roll out dough to ¼ inch thick; cut biscuit rounds to slightly smaller than the ramekin diameter. 

Place ramekins on a cookie sheet in pre-heated oven.  Bake at 350˚ F for 30-40 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cool slightly and serve; or cool entirely and serve (or store in the refrigerator).   Enjoy!

_____________________________________

We welcome your comments (below).  You can also send your questions to: monaturesmontrosegarden@gmail.com

Colorado Gourmet: Making Fruit Purees from Fresh-frozen Fruits

Pears and other fruits can be used to make fruit purees.

Many of our best garden fruits ripen in the warm days of summer and early fall. It’s really too hot then to feel like making preserves.  Since we have freezer space, we often clean and core/pit the fruits, then freeze them for later use. We don’t remove the skins; they’ll come off easily when fruits are thawed.  We also cut the larger fruits (like pears) into ½ inch pieces.  That way they are ready for making jam or other preserves. 

Hawthorn fruits

This year produced a bumper crop of fruits in our neighborhood.  As neighbors tend to share, we were blessed with an abundance of plums, apricots, pears and peaches, in addition to our own crab apples, quince and hawthorn.  Many of the fruits this year were small – a challenge for removing the pits before freezing.  But that’s not a problem, provided you want to make juice and/or fruit puree.  

Cooking plums to make plum puree

Just place frozen fruits in a large cooking pot, barely cover with water, then heat to boiling.  After the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook at a low temperature until the fruit is soft, stirring occasionally.

Foley Food Mill

Remove the hot fruit from the stove.  If there’s lots of juice, pour off the juice and use it for making jelly or syrup.  Process the rest of the fruit mixture to create the puree.  For fruits with no/small seeds, we like to process using a Foley Food Mill (above).  This clever device allows you to easily create fruit puree from hot cooked fruit.   It’s also great for making apple sauce, pear sauce and fruit butters. You can purchase a Foley mill from kitchen stores or on-line.

  

Straining plum puree through a colander

If your fruit has large seeds (pits), you’ll need to strain the hot fruit using a colander or large sieve.  Simply push the mixture through the sieve, using a cooking spoon or scraper.  It takes a little work, but isn’t too difficult.  Discard the remaining pits/skins.

Taste the puree.  If it’s too tart for your liking, add sugar to taste.   But, unless you're making fruit leather, we suggest leaving your puree a little tart.  You can always increase the sweetness when using the puree in a recipe.

At this point you can cool the puree and create fruit leather using a dehydrator.  You can also freeze the puree for future use (we suggest freezing in pint-size portions). Or preserve it, using the boiling water bath canning method. 

Plum puree (l) and juice

If canning, return the puree to the cooking pot.  Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil, stirring frequently.  Ladle hot puree into hot, sterilized, pint-size canning jars.  Process in boiling water bath for appropriate time (10 minutes below 1000 ft elevation; add 1 minute for every 1000 ft. above 1000 ft. elevation).  After processing, cool, label and store in a cool, dry place.  Purees will last up to 2 years if processed this way.

Fruit purees are a convenient staple to have on hand.  We’ll share some recipes that use fruit purees next month.

Jars of Apricot, Plum and Quince Purees

_________________________________

We welcome your comments (below).  You can also send your questions to: monaturesmontrosegarden@gmail.com