Everything you must need to know about dried fruits

Everything you must need to know about dried fruits 

Most store-bought dates and dried fruits are preserved and are used in candies, baked goods, and other sweets. They’re also a popular ingredient in the beverage industry. But that doesn’t mean you need to feel deprived if you don’t drink alcohol. Dates and other dried fruit dried apricots, dates, cherries, raisins, dried pineapple, and prunes are healthy additions to many dishes, especially those you make with sugar.

Dried fruits

Dried fruits and other dried vegetables

They come in packages, ready to be used in various recipes. They’re not just for baking, though. You can make a delicious dessert with a combination of dried fruit and chocolate thin truffles or candies or add them to salads, soups, and beverages. You can use them for garnishes or in sauces. In fact, it’s even possible to cook with some of them. You can put some dates in your cereal or toss them in your fruit salad. Don’t be afraid to snack on a few. However, dried fruits and other dried vegetables have their downsides. Here are some of them:

You need to know how to cook dried fruit. This is a common issue with nuts, but it’s even more common with dried fruits. Sometimes the instructions look like this: Add nuts or other dried fruits to your dish, and the instructions stop.

Dried fruits have a higher level of tannins that give them a bitter taste and an astringent effect, which is like a drying effect. Some recipes only include ingredients that have a “high” tannin content, but dried fruits like figs and prunes have such a bitter taste that most recipes avoid them altogether.

While drying fruit may give you the benefits of using them in season, you may miss out on some nutrients. For instance, it’s more difficult to extract more nutrients from dried fruit than it is, from fresh which is why you get only about 30 percent of the nutritional value of fresh fruit.

Dried fruits have a shorter shelf life than fresh, so you need to keep your eyes on them when you buy them. If you don’t use them before they smell, they lose moisture. So, you need to think about how long your fruit will be in storage.

Cooking

How to use dried fruits for Cooking?

There’s a reason dried fruits aren’t often included in recipes they’re not meant for baking. When you cook them, they won’t change much in appearance, and they have a very high water content. You can keep them whole for up to three months in the pantry, or you can cut them into smaller pieces. However, you need to treat, dried fruit with caution if you’re using it as a filler ingredient. It does not mean some dried fruit to be cooked in oil and some like dried apricots don’t like water.

Recipes

Recipes that work well with dried fruit

There are a few recipes that work well with dried fruit, like adding it to muffins or making chutney out of it. Some dried fruit, like dried apples and cranberries, are even better when mixed with the dried fruit. Dried cranberries make a significant addition to baked goods, and apples make a fantastic glaze for baked goods.

Keep in mind that cooking with dried fruit isn’t the same as using dried fruit as a filler, so you should use recipes with caution.

How to Store Dried Fruits

Keeping your dried fruit in a cool and dry place is important. The shelf life of dried fruit is around nine months, so it can last much longer than dried fresh fruit. However, if you store it in a tropical environment, it will lose quality more quickly.

How to Store Dried Fruits for Cooking

To keep your dried fruit fresh for longer, you’ll need to make sure they’re in a dry and cool place. If they’re too hot, they’ll lose quality. And if they’re too dry, they will shrivel up. As a general rule, the best method for storing dried fruit is to place it in a Tupperware container. It will stay cool and dry and protect it from the air. You can add as much dried fruit as you’d like in a container, but if you want to store any dried fruit for a longer period, keep it between two layers of foil.

Baking

How to store dried fruits for baking

If you’re using dried fruit as a filler, you’ll want to cook with them. You can use dried fruit, as filler, but it should be the right type of dried fruit. Dried apples will add more moisture, but make sure that you use them in baking recipes. Apples are better used as a filling, or as a topping for sweet baked goods like pies and tarts. Fruit that’s a good filler include apples, apricots, dried blueberries, cranberries, raisins, and peaches. If you’re making cakes, you can use raisins or currants in the batter.

Dried fruit

Dried fruit that’s best for baking

Dried fruit that’s best for baking includes apples, apricots, blueberries, dried cranberries, dried figs, dried peaches, prunes, and cherries. These all work well as fillers, and they also add a unique flavor to baked goods.

Dried fruits don’t work well in baking that has a very liquid base, such as chocolate and pumpkin. These will break down the fruit.

You can use frozen fruit in some baked goods, but make sure that you let it thaw out completely before using it. Don’t use frozen fruit, for cakes, as it will cause them to fall. Frozen fruit is okay for muffins and quick bread, though.

Dried fruit makes an interesting addition to cakes, but it should be used sparingly.

If you want to know about what are the health benefits of eating bananas every day, you can read it.