The Berry Thing

Fresh berries are probably the most delicious thing in the world! One of the favourite desserts here at my house is The Berry Thing. Tasty, versatile, easy, useful for more than just a dessert, and it can even be made for diabetics!

Try it out!

Photo by Stacy Spensley, flickr

Ingredients
2 cups fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh red raspberries
1 cup blackberries or blueberries (or 1/2 cup of each)
1/2 cup sugar or Splenda (sucralose)

Method
Chill berries. Wash berries and pick through, discarding blemished berries. Hull and cut strawberries into pieces no larger than the raspberries. Combine all berries into a bowl, cover with sugar, and lightly mash with a potato masher to bruise the fruit and release juices. Cover and refrigerate for two hours or more.

To serve
1) Scoop into bowls and top with whipped cream or vanilla yoghurt; garnish with mint sprig
2) Spoon onto sliced pound cake or madiera cake, top with whipped cream or vanilla yoghurt; garnish
3) Spoon onto waffles or pancakes, top and garnish
4) Roll into crepes, top with sour cream and sprinkle with confectioner's (icing) sugar
5) Spoon onto hot cereal (porridge)
6) Spoon over ice cream
7) Serve along side a chocolate frosted fudge cake
8) Spoon over scones or shortcake sponges, top with whipped cream

What kind of things can you think of to do with the Berry Thing?

Stewed Fruit

My husband loves stewed fruit. After several experiments I came up with this recipe, which he just loves. Because he is diabetic, I use fructose for sweetening, but you can use sugar.

photo by Mandee84, flickr

Ingredients

2 cups dried fruit of your choice, cut into large pieces

1 sliced lemon

1 cup sugar

  OR ⅔ cup fructose

4 cups water

3 whole star anise pods

6 whole cloves

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Mix sugar (or fructose) and water in large pan and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar/fructose completely dissolves.

Add spices and all “tough” fruits (pears, peaches, mango, apricots, dark raisins, etc), reserving the softer fruits (prunes, figs, etc.) for later addition.

Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes add the soft fruits and simmer another 20 minutes or until the “tough” fruits can be easily pierced with a fork.

Remove lemon slices, anise pods and whole cloves and discard, set fruit aside to cool.

Serve warm or cold with thick cream or vanilla yoghurt.

Applesauce!

Applesauce Fresh, homemade applesauce…and even a low-GI version for diabetics!

I have always loved apples and applesauce, especially my grandmother’s homemade sauce. This approximates hers (she did not use cinnamon but this recipe reminds me of apple pie with cinnamon in it) very favourably.

What do you do with applesauce? It is a great accompaniment for pork dishes, delicious on pancakes, or as a dessert or snack, especially with ice cream or vanilla yoghurt. I find it tasty mixed into a spice cake or muffin batter (sprinkle some rolled oats on top of the muffins before they go into the oven). It is also delicious as a topping on hot cereals. Applesauce will keep in the freezer for up to a year, several weeks in the fridge.
Oh…and babies seem to love it!!

Ingredients 

photo by Mellowyk, flickr

3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and
   quartered Granny Smith apples
4 to 6 strips of lemon peel
3-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 inches of cinnamon stick
½ cup fructose
  or ⅔ cup white sugar
1 cup of water
¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt

Method
Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, with lid “cocked” for steam escape, for 30-45 minutes.

 Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Put through potato ricer or mash with potato masher.

May be eaten hot or cold.

Using fructose reduces the GI rating of the dish. Sugar has a GI of 68, Fructose is 23. Suitable for diabetics in reasonable quantities.