Blueberry "Jell-O" Smoothie

[Shel_B]

For lunch, I whipped up a blueberry smoothie: fresh blueberries in some home made almond milk.  I took the glass with the smoothie to the dining area, and, a few minutes later, when I started to drink it, the contents were somewhat gelatinous.  The longer the drink sat, the more gelatinous it got.  Here it is after about ten minutes:

 

 

What would cause this to happen?  And how can this be prevented?  My first offhand guess is that by blending the blueberries, pectin was released, and that firmed up the drink.  Just a wild guess. 

 

 

[Darienne]

No idea Shel_B, but I too am curious about this.  It was only blueberries and almond milk?  Nothing else at all?

[Lisa Shock]

Blueberries are high in pectin, acid, and sugar so, pureeing them mixes these compounds and activates the pectin. The friction factor of the blender creating a little heat also helped it along.

 

Blueberries are one of the fruits you can make pies with and not need a thickener like cornstarch or arrowroot.

[Tri2Cook]

You can run fresh, raw blueberries through a juicer and the juice will thicken and clot. If you heat the result, it will break down into smaller, firmer curd-like pieces that can be drained in cheesecloth and the result can be molded and sliced. As Lisa mentioned, they will also quite often produce a good pie without adding starch. They average less than 2 grams of pectin per pound of berries which doesn't seem like it would be sufficient to do the job but somehow they do. Maybe it's the high fiber content working with the pectin... or maybe blueberries are just magic.

[daveb]

How does it taste?

 

I'm thinking let it drain.  Then some berries on the bottom of a wine glass, blueberry "stuff" to fill the glass then top with fresh blueberries or coulis.  Chill for a while before serving.  A flavored Panna Cotta if you can make that reach.

 

Dessert anyone?

Edited July 5, 2015 by daveb (log)

[Shel_B]

No idea Shel_B, but I too am curious about this.  It was only blueberries and almond milk?  Nothing else at all?

 

Nope, just almond milk and blueberries.  I usually add a banana, and this never happens, but this time there were no bananas in the house.