WE’RE NEARING THE END

OUR FINAL SECTION

I’M NOT CRYING,YOU’RE CRYING

But cry not because this section, in my humblest opinion, is an absolute delight (despite its sometimes almost fat-free nature). Here is where we use what we’ve learnt so far about the role of butter and other fats in baking and put it into practical use. Now we can do something radical and look to replacing butter and fats with fruit, as a backbone to our baking pursuits.

‍ ‍‍To explain how fruit can be used in place of fat is to understand what else is going on in the recipe, what other ingredients are being used and the role in which fruit will play in the end result. There are limitations when using fruits, due to their organic nature and the properties they may add, so it wouldn’t be a groundbreaking statement to say that not all fruits can be used in place of fat for baking recipes, and some may in fact yield disastrous results.

‍ ‍On the next page I’ve pulled together a bar graph compiled of a variety of fruits and vegetables along with their calorie, carbohydrate, and water content. Yes, it’s all very exciting, but what’s useful is that it shows the differences between the fruits (and vegetables) we see in baking and those we don’t. Many a fruit, berry or grated vegetable can happily be folded through cake batters, but few are happy being part of the batter itself.

‍ Examples of fruits (& vegetables) typically used in baking:

• Banana & Avocado

• Dates, Prunes & Dried Figs

  Carrot, Courgette & Beetroot

‍‍ ‍If we also look at a few well-known recipes and the properties of the fruits used, it will help us with the next and final section of recipes.

‍ ‍BANANA BREAD

Banana bread is perhaps the most popular example of using fruit in baking and a quick glance at the comparative carbohydrate quantities between bananas and say melons give us an indication as to why we do not see a melon bread instead. The carbohydrates in the banana (particularly when they are nicely ripened) serves to replicate the role of fat in a few ways. Carbohydrates are made up of sugars and starch, the sugar in which helps to tenderise a sponge (absorbing water & inhibiting gluten development), while the starch has great binding properties, helping to establish structure in the final bake.

‍ ‍STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

The Sticky toffee pudding is an excellent example of other fruits popularly used within cake batter, dried dates, prunes, figs, and raisins. These are notably high in carbohydrates begs the question, what is it that is hindering other fruits from being as useful as these popular fruits we already use? Dried Fruits = Much Less Water.

‍ ‍CARROT CAKE

A carrot cake is not an example of a fruit of vegetable being part of the cake batter itself but of fruit or vegetables being folded within in. Carrots are comparatively high in sugar compared to other vegetables, but they are also quite high in water. Grated into the mixture means that these sugars break down when baking, but also helps to counteract the effects of the water the carrot may add to the mixture (as the sugar absorbs the water). Other fruits or vegetables can be added to a cake batter in this way but also with great caution.

Let’s see what I’ve come up with, one final time (NOW I’M CRYING)