When I crave the zing and zest of summer desserts but I don’t have access to fresh fruit, I turn to the freeze-dried versions. These weightless, dehydrated fruit pieces span all seasonal produce, from dragon fruit to raspberry, and pack a super-concentrated, all-natural flavor without introducing additional moisture.
My mom understood the draw of freeze-dried fruit long before I did. In the early 2000s, I would watch her perform the ultimate labor of love as she meticulously identified and extracted freeze-dried strawberries from giant bags of Special K Red Berries. Three or four bags of berry-less cereal later, she was left with a collection of crisp and pungent strawberry slices she’d blitz up and then incorporate into a dessert of her choice (strawberry Rice Krispies treats, to be clear).
Twenty years later, both the demand for and availability of freeze-dried fruit is higher than ever. That means it’s easier to make creations that taste intensely of your fruit flavor of choice, no matter the season and without harming any bags of cereal in the process. So what is freeze-dried fruit and why should you keep a bag in the pantry? Read on!
What is freeze-dried fruit, exactly?
Imagine an apple slice. Imagine that apple slice gets frozen to preserve its peak flavor and physical integrity. When deeply frozen, our apple slice is placed in a low-pressure vacuum, where its ice crystals sublime (that is, turn directly into water vapor). Not only does this process remove much more moisture than traditional drying, but it also does a great job of maintaining the fruit's original flavor, sweetness, and shape—only now it’s crispy, like astronaut food. Your imaginary apple slice has just been freeze-dried.
Why should I opt for freeze-dried fruit over the fresh stuff?
Freeze-dried fruits (let’s call them FDF) provide one of the easiest and most accessible ways to incorporate natural fruit flavors into your desserts. Once you have your hands on a bag of freeze-dried fruit, you can throw it into a food processor or pound it into a powder with a mortar and pestle and you’ll be left with a magic concentrated powder ready to be incorporated into a dessert of your choice.
“It’s like adding cocoa into cookies!” says dessert mastermind and cookbook author Erin McDowell. Not only is it simple to use, but it also opens up your dessert flavor options ten-fold. Instead of limiting your fruit options to seasonal availability, you can widen your selection to fruits. Mango lassi cookies outside of mango season, anyone?
But greater access to out-of-season fruit isn't the only advantage of FDF. Compared to fresh fruit, purées, and jams, FDF has no moisture content or added sugars that could irreparably alter the moisture levels and texture of your bake—especially since you would need to add a considerable amount because fresh fruit flavor is less potent. Since freeze-dried fruit is powdered, you don’t have to worry about it watering down your recipe, nor do you have to account for added sugar (the way you would with fruit jam). Bonus points for FDF: It’s so concentrated in natural color, it will also dye your desserts stunning shades of the rainbow.
Alright, so when should I use freeze-dried fruit powder?
Since it’s a powder, we recommend mixing it into the dry ingredients for things like cookie doughs and cake batters. It’s a great addition to no-churn ice creams that you don’t want to dilute with fruit purée. And if you’re craving a hit of berry goodness in your morning bun, feel free to stir some freeze-dried blueberry in the sugar filling—you may have just invented a heavenly cross between blueberry muffins and breakfast buns!
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May 26, 2021 at 07:00PM
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Freeze-Dried Fruit Adds Huge Fruit Flavor to Baked Goods and Desserts, From Cookies to Ice Cream - Bon Appetit
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