Fruit For Baking

I do get a few questions on fruit in the baking process and notice that there are more than a few breads and scones out there that are made with much less care than ours.

Our concern is the flavor first. That is, after the baking process, will there be any flavor left in the fruit? did it transfer enough to the product? Did it break down and make a mess?

When using fresh or fresh frozen fruit, make sure it tastes great before you put it in your batter. Secondly - KEEP OR MAKE IT FROZEN. A bit of time in the freezer will firm up even the freshest berries and give them enough structure to hold their own in the mixer.

Most importantly - Add them LAST and mix long enough to properly disperse them throughout the batter and then shut off the mixer. Over mixing will cause the fruit to 'bleed' all over and ruin the presentation of the bread or scone.

With Dried fruit, keep the flavor in mind as well, but there is more to consider. Dried fruit can be very expensive - over $10/lb for a good dried blueberry. Size does matter: if you put a huge dried cherry chunk in a 1-2 oz scone, you may end up with so many in one scone that the batter can't hold together and run the risk of some scones having only 1 or 2. Either way, consistency is key. When using larger, plump dried fruits, we take a few minutes to chop the berries to get a better distribution throught the batter. Because the fruit is dried you don't have the 'bleeding" problem.

Keep the balance of flavors to get the right result - a nice flavorful blend with no one component over powering the rest.

Eat well!