No cook fruit purées for tarts and eclairs

[onemorebitedelara.com]

I’m looking for a way to thicken fruit purées, specifically strawberry, without cooking. I don’t like cooking strawberries. I think it kills the flavor so I need something that will thicken without needing to be heated and which will contain the water in fruit so it won’t seep into the tart shell or eclair. 

 

Any ideas about thickeners and proportions?  

[curls]

Perhaps instant clearjel will work for this application... https://nuts.com/cookingbaking/leavenerthickener/instant-clearjel.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=1o3&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkuzy2ZPf4wIVhJ6fCh3OhwlyEAQYAyABEgKS-fD_BwE

 

I have used it for pie fillings and fruit sauces. It works in cold or hot applications.

[Avachocolate]

Try Ultratex 3 or Ultratex 8....basically modified starches...different vendors have them, I use the ones from Modernist Pantry and am quite happy with them for thickening fruit purees without cooking...ratios will depend on the kind of final texture you are looking for, some experimenting required.

I would start with 3-5 grams starch / 100 grams of fruit purees and adjust from there.

[Jim D.]

With these ideas I can't helping thinking about the possibility of using such a thickened fruit purée in a bonbon filling--the holy grail of including fresh fruit taste without the huge amount of sugar and usually long cooking time required for a pâte de fruit. It would depend, of course, on how much water these starches bind, but I can't believe it would be enough to lower the free water activity sufficiently.

[pastrygirl]

Adding freeze dried fruit to soak up the juice might work, and will add intensity of flavor.  I can't give a ratio, but if you're near a Trader Joe's, try a packet or two of their freeze dried strawberries crushed up and mixed into fresh and see what happens.

[MelissaH]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

With these ideas I can't helping thinking about the possibility of using such a thickened fruit purée in a bonbon filling--the holy grail of including fresh fruit taste without the huge amount of sugar and usually long cooking time required for a pâte de fruit. It would depend, of course, on how much water these starches bind, but I can't believe it would be enough to lower the free water activity sufficiently.

Depending on your fruit and its source, I'd also be concerned about the various types of bugs that can live in or on fruit: bacteria, mold and other fungi, and the like. I know they can't grow if they don't have enough water available, but sometimes you can't see how much is already there before you start.

 

Anyhoo, as a chemist, my first thought would be to throw your fruit puree on a rotavap to suck off some of the water. No clue whether that would solve the bulk of your issue or not.

[Jim D.]

25 minutes ago, MelissaH said:

Depending on your fruit and its source, I'd also be concerned about the various types of bugs that can live in or on fruit: bacteria, mold and other fungi, and the like. I know they can't grow if they don't have enough water available, but sometimes you can't see how much is already there before you start.

 

Anyhoo, as a chemist, my first thought would be to throw your fruit puree on a rotavap to suck off some of the water. No clue whether that would solve the bulk of your issue or not.

 

Hadn't thought of the alien stuff in fruit. Now I can't even eat a strawberry without fear?

 

Had to look up rotavap. So yet another piece of expensive equipment required to make chocolates!  

[paulraphael]

1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

 

Hadn't thought of the alien stuff in fruit. Now I can't even eat a strawberry without fear?

 

Had to look up rotavap. So yet another piece of expensive equipment required to make chocolates!  

 

If you're selling everything fresh it's probably nothing to worry about. Restaurants can sell fresh fruit desserts without making people sick. With some products that will sit around longer (like commercial sorbets ... if you're selling pints to grocery stores) health codes may require that the fruit be pasteurized. 

 

Since eclairs and things only last a day regardless of what you fill them with, i'm guessing you're ok, and could just go with the modified starches. 

 

If you ever do get a rotovap, beware! You'll become a mad scientist and will go down rabbit holes you've never imagined. 

[MelissaH]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

Hadn't thought of the alien stuff in fruit. Now I can't even eat a strawberry without fear?

 

Had to look up rotavap. So yet another piece of expensive equipment required to make chocolates!  

@Chocolot pointed out to me a couple of workshops ago that mold on freeze-dried strawberries could be an issue.

[MelissaH]

57 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

With some products that will sit around longer (like commercial sorbets ... if you're selling pints to grocery stores) health codes may require that the fruit be pasteurized.

Home irradiation unit? 😁

[jmacnaughtan]

There's no reason you can't use gelatin - just hydrate powdered gelatin in six times its weight of water or purée, then microwave it until it's melted and stir it into the bulk of your fruit.

 

ETA: A ratio of around 1% is generally pretty good.

Edited August 4, 2019 by jmacnaughtan (log)