Sometimes recipes call for adding fruit, such as
blueberries, raspberries, banana, pumpkin puree, applesauce and other fruits and
purees, raisins, currants, dried cranberries, etc. They add such color, flavor
and interest to any recipe.
To successfully add fruit to a
batter or dough, I have the following tips:
Fresh
fruit should be sorted, washed, and well-drained before use. It's best to add
the fruit after the flour has been mixed in. It is always gingerly
folded into the batter or dough by hand with
a rubber spatula or spoon.
Essences, fruit juices, spirits, etc. may be
added to the recipe only if called for. Do not replace milk, buttermilk or other
dairy products with fruit juices. The ingredients do not have the same
characteristics and your recipe will more than likely fail.
DRIED FRUIT: For dried fruit that is hard,
shrivled or dry,
plump in water before adding to the recipe.
It provides the
moisture that it needs during baking, otherwise it will take water from the
recipe. Clumped together or hard raisins can be fixed by rehydrating them.
To plump dried fruit:
