No-added-sugar fruit spreads
If you want to cut down your sugar consumption, one option is to use no-added-sugar fruit spreads instead of sugar.
St. Dalfour and Meridian are popular no-added-sugar fruit spread brands. The former is generally a little sweeter than the latter, but both taste wonderful and are easily available in the UK. Most supermarkets sell St. Dalfour fruit spreads on the jam aisle: usually, the larger the supermarket, the wider the variety of flavours. Both brands can be bought in health food shops and online.
Using no-added-sugar fruit spreads in baking
Fruit spreads are not only useful as jam substitutes – although they are delicious for that purpose – but they can also be used in baking. Here are some tips:
The amount of fruit spread
When you start modifying a recipe, you need to know how sweet you like your treats. If you’re happy with slightly less sweetness, use the same amount of fruit spread as you would sugar. Otherwise, add a little more. The sweetness levels between different flavours of spread vary, so you need to experiment which amount works for you.
The amount of other ingredients
Because fruit spreads have more liquid than sugar, you need either to slightly reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe or add a little more of the dry ingredients.
The flavour
Fruit spreads, as the name implies, come in different fruit flavours. This can either enhance or spoil your baking. Choose a spread whose flavour complements the other ingredients in the recipe. For example, you could use apricot fruit spread for a chocolate cake or fig spread for a Christmas fruit cake. If you prefer a relatively mild flavour, use peach spread.
The colour
Some fruit spreads, like blueberry, have a strong colour. If you’re baking a sponge cake, this can make the cake look weird. So avoid strong colours in otherwise light-coloured cakes – unless you’re baking for Halloween and something spooky looking is required!
The texture
Some fruit spreads have ‘bits’ in them. Depending on your general preference and the recipe you’re modifying, you may or may not want to include them. To get rid of any lumps, press the fruit spread through a sieve.
Glazing
You can make a wonderful glaze, for example for fruit cakes, by heating some apricot fruit spread in a saucepan until it becomes liquid and brushing it onto the cake. If the fruit spread thickens before you’ve finished the task, just re-heat the spread to make it liquid again.
Copyright © Tarja Moles 2012. Photograph © Tarja Moles 2012. All rights reserved.
If you’d like to use this article in your ezine or on your website, you’re welcome to do so as long as you use the complete article, including the copyright line, and include the following paragraph in its entirety:
Tarja Moles is the author of No Naughties: Sweet Treats without Sugar, Wheat, Gluten and Yeast. Visit www.nonaughties.com for free recipes and information on special diets and living with multiple dietary restrictions.
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St. Dalfour and Meridian are popular no-added-sugar fruit spread brands. The former is generally a little sweeter than the latter, but both taste wonderful and are easily available in the UK. Most supermarkets sell St. Dalfour fruit spreads on the jam aisle: usually, the larger the supermarket, the wider the variety of flavours. Both brands can be bought in health food shops and online.
Using no-added-sugar fruit spreads in baking
Fruit spreads are not only useful as jam substitutes – although they are delicious for that purpose – but they can also be used in baking. Here are some tips:
The amount of fruit spread
When you start modifying a recipe, you need to know how sweet you like your treats. If you’re happy with slightly less sweetness, use the same amount of fruit spread as you would sugar. Otherwise, add a little more. The sweetness levels between different flavours of spread vary, so you need to experiment which amount works for you.
The amount of other ingredients
Because fruit spreads have more liquid than sugar, you need either to slightly reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe or add a little more of the dry ingredients.
The flavour
Fruit spreads, as the name implies, come in different fruit flavours. This can either enhance or spoil your baking. Choose a spread whose flavour complements the other ingredients in the recipe. For example, you could use apricot fruit spread for a chocolate cake or fig spread for a Christmas fruit cake. If you prefer a relatively mild flavour, use peach spread.
The colour
Some fruit spreads, like blueberry, have a strong colour. If you’re baking a sponge cake, this can make the cake look weird. So avoid strong colours in otherwise light-coloured cakes – unless you’re baking for Halloween and something spooky looking is required!
The texture
Some fruit spreads have ‘bits’ in them. Depending on your general preference and the recipe you’re modifying, you may or may not want to include them. To get rid of any lumps, press the fruit spread through a sieve.
Glazing
You can make a wonderful glaze, for example for fruit cakes, by heating some apricot fruit spread in a saucepan until it becomes liquid and brushing it onto the cake. If the fruit spread thickens before you’ve finished the task, just re-heat the spread to make it liquid again.
Copyright © Tarja Moles 2012. Photograph © Tarja Moles 2012. All rights reserved.
If you’d like to use this article in your ezine or on your website, you’re welcome to do so as long as you use the complete article, including the copyright line, and include the following paragraph in its entirety:
Tarja Moles is the author of No Naughties: Sweet Treats without Sugar, Wheat, Gluten and Yeast. Visit www.nonaughties.com for free recipes and information on special diets and living with multiple dietary restrictions.
Back to Articles