by sy (architect by day, entertaining maestro any other time)
There is no healthier dessert than fresh fruit in all its varied textures, colours and juice dripping goodness. The sweet smell of strawberries can be tantalizing to the nose and tastebuds not to mention adding the heady hint of vanilla to go with it , desserts are what I look forward to at the end of a fine dining experience…
There are of course sumptious cakes and pastries which will always be beckoning on the dessert tray but for this episode I am focusing more on wholesome desserts which are still light on the calories counter and we need not feel too guilty indulging ourselves after dinner.
Classic Fruit Salad
This is a great dessert for crowds… Choose fruits for their colour combination and flavours e.g. :-
- White/cream coloured firm fruits with mild flavour – apples, pears, melons, bananas
- Tangy citrus flavoured fruits (coloured) – oranges, grapefruit, mandarins
- Berries (dark and flavourful) – strawberries, raspberries, blue berries etc. Since berries all have very distinct flavours on their own. I would suggest using only one kind in your mixed fruit salad as an option
- Grapes – green or red preferably seedless
- Acidic flavoured fruit i.e. fruits that leave a slight tingling sensation on the tongue e.g. pineapples, star fruit
Tips for a very successful fruit salad – Salad to be chilled before serving. Lemon juice with a few grains of salt to be added to cut fruit to prevent ‘browning’ which is a natural oxidation process. Fruits should be cut as late as possible so that the fruits are fresh. Small cubes of 10mmx10mm are a suitable size. Other shapes will contribute to the texture of the salad. Drain cut fruit as much as possible in a colander before tossing in a big bowl.
Grapes can be cut into halves if preferred. Leave apple or pear skins on for more colour appeal.
Toss cut ingredients with freshly squeezed orange juice and add honey to taste if required. Usually the juice from a large Sunkist orange and a 2-3 teaspoons of lemon juice is good enough to suffuse the fruit salad with a sweet and tangy natural dressing. Add finely chopped mint for a refined finish.
Fruit pies (covered with pastry) and ‘open’ pies or flans where fruit is arranged on top of a pastry casing and baked make wonderful variations to the fruit theme. You can choose a good flavoured fruit for pie filling e.g apple, peach, berries etc
Fruit crumbles – personally I prefer crumbles because the topping is so quick and easy to make instead of pastry which takes a little more time. I am giving here an easy crumble recipe which you can experiment with. You will find the combination of flavours like banana and peach is absolutely delicious!
Basic Apple Crumble (serves 4)
Filling
4 Granny Smith (green) apples (cored and chopped into 15x15mm cubes)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsps raisins
2 tsps cinnamon powder
1 tsp cornstarch
Topping
50 gms butter
1/2 cup of combination of 1/2 whole meal and white flour (50:50 ratio)
or
crushed breakfast cereal – preferably whole meal kind and white flour (33:65 ratio)
or crushed oatmeal and flour (40:60 ratio)
1/4 cup white sugar
Rub in with your fingers all ingredients for topping and set aside
Filling – melt a tablespoon of butter in a non-stick saucepan (medium heat). Put in all ingredients for filling and stir for 4 minutes. Do not add any water – it will get mushy straight away. Remove from heat and cool. Add 1 tsps cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water and stir into ingredients. Mix well. Taste ingredients and add more seasonings and sugar if desired.
Spread filling into buttered pie dish or separate pudding dishes. Sprinkle topping over filling and make patterns with fork if feeling creative. Bake in moderate oven for 10-15 minutes or until topping is golden brown. The smell of this dessert baking in the oven is wonderful and serve with ice cream calories are not an issue.
