Go Fruit!

Apple cake

This weekend will be the last winter weekend, at least according to the calendar. Say goodbye to the winter properly with a warm apple cake. The perfect winters treat to accompany your tea or coffee. 

 

Ingredients

Dough:

175 g butter

250 g Flour

100 g sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons of cream

A dust of salt

 

Filling:

1 kg apples

75 g sugar

75 g raisins

25 g chopped almonds

 

Remonce:

75 g butter

75 g sugar

25 g chopped almonds

 

Method

Crumble the butter into the flour, add salt, sugar, egg and cream and knead until the dough is smooth. Leave it to rest for an hour in the fridge.

 

Roll 2/3 of the dough into two equally sized circles (should fit into a springform tin). Put one dough circle in the bottom of a greased springform tin and cover the sides with the last 1/3 dough.

 

Peel and core the apples and slice them into thin wedges. Fill up the dough with apples, raisins, sugar and chopped almonds.     

 

Put the second dough circle on top of the filling and press the edge of the dough out onto the sides.

 

Stir butter and sugar together until they are smooth and add chopped almonds. Spread the remonce over the dough lid and prick it with a fork.

 

Bake in the oven for an hour at 200 degrees.

 

Serve warm, for example with creme fraiche or cream.

Storing apples is about seeking compromises

In many European countries, apples are one of the most consumed fruits. One of the reasons for this is that we can buy apples all year round. Despite the season for fresh apples being relatively long, we are relying on stored apples during the winter and spring. However, long-term storage affects both nutritional quality and taste. The challenge for post-harvest researchers is to preserve apple quality throughout the whole storage season. In a test with Rubens apples, carried out in Switzerland by ISAFRUIT researchers from Research Station Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil (ACW), the taste of apples after 8 months of storage under different conditions were compared. Application of the gas 1-MCP, prior to storage, slowed down ripening thus maintaining the apples crispiness and juiciness. On the other hand, a more fruity and sweet taste was obtained for cold stored apples. However, these fruits were so mealy that they would not be accepted by consumers. The researchers are currently carrying out further tests with other apples and storage periods. More information. 

Green fruit hero gets three more years

Mr. Fruitness is a super hero in green leotard, who gets superpowers from eating a healthy diet with lots of fruits. He was launched in 2005 in a project funded by the European Union, the Italian government and CSO and has his own website targeted at young school children. Last week, it was announced that the Mr. fruitness project and the School Fruit Scheme, which works to introduce fresh fruits and fruit products in schools, would get €90 million in funding over the next three years. In Europe, 22 million children are overweight or obese and it is hoped that the fruit hero plus increased availability of fruits in schools can help to decrease this number. Visit Mr. Fruitness’s website, where you can learn about healthy fruits and combat all the enemies for a healthy living among other things. Mr. Fruitness is available in German, English, Italian, Polish and Swedish (source: Mr. Fruitness, Freshplaza).

Fast kiwi starter, 2 servings

With the right ingredients and 5-10 minutes preparation time, you can present a tasty starter.

Ingredients

4 slices of air dried ham

2 kiwifruits peeled

2 lumps of mozzarella cheese

Lemon juice

Olive oil

Acacia honey

Fresh basil leaves

Pepper

 

Method

Cut the kiwis and cheese into coarse pieces and arrange them with the ham on two plates. Sprinkle with olive oil, lemon juice and honey and decorate with basil leaves and pepper.

Romantic orange battle

Yesterday, BBC news featured the annual orange battle from the small Italian village Ivrea. The history behind this event dates back to medieval times. However, the tradition of fighting with oranges was started in the previous century and originally arranged by women, apparently, as an aid to find the right suitor. This year the battle properly coincided with Valentine’s Day. View the clip and find out if you can see the romantic connection (source: BBC and festival pig).

Hosts of the Winter Olympics also share their fruit

The winter Olympics are in full swing in Vancouver with 5500 athletes from 80 countries competing in 14 disciplines. For the next two weeks everything will be about winning or losing. However, at GoFruit we would like to take a different approach and give the hosting city a symbolic gold medal for sharing, after coming across the Vancouver fruit project website. Since 1999, Vancouverites have actively worked to increase fruit intakes in the local community by sharing surplus fruits on fruit trees. Owners of fruit tress simply report if they have more fruit than they can consume and by voluntary work, the fruit is picked and redistributed to day care centres, community kitchens and schools. According to the website 3.3 tons of fruit was redistributed in 2009. Well done Vancouver! (Source: Vancouver fruit tree project)

    

 

Squared watermelons are on their way to Europe

The idea of growing watermelons in cube shaped moulds to give a square fruit instead of the rather unpractical round shape was invented about 30 years ago by a Japanese farmer. In 2001, the squared watermelons in Japan became news headlines around Europe and now some Europeans will finally get the possibility to buy them. According to Miguel Vallarino, Panama's representative of Fruit Producers, the first squared watermelons were shipped to Europe on the 1^st of February this year. The company now eagerly awaits how consumers in Belgium, Britain, Germany and Holland will accept the squared watermelons which will be somewhat more costly. Currently, the market price in the US for the squared melon design is 19.74 US dollars (€14.21) per kg (source: FreshPlaza)   

Berry smoothie, serves 1

Smoothies are colourful, tasty, healthy and easy to vary. Think creatively and blend your favourite fruits and spices. We would be happy to hear about your results. Below is some inspiration for an easy start into the huge smoothie world.   

Ingredients

100 g of frozen berries

2 dl milk

Vanilla sugar and icing sugar to your taste.

 

Method

Blend all ingredients, pour into a glass and drink!

For the slightly more decorative version, you can garnish the smoothie with fruits e.g orange slices, fresh berries or star fruit.

 

Fruit trees' ancestors are endangered

Wild fruit trees growing in Central Asia are facing extinction with 90 % of forests being destroyed within the last 50 years due to human activity. The ancestors of fruit species such as apples, plums and cherries could be lost forever if this continues. As the wild fruit species are naturally resistant to drought and cold temperatures, they could be a highly valuable for breeders in the light of climate changes. However, first stop is to save the genes from extinction (source BBC).

New drying technology can increase popularity of dried fruits

Dried sour cherries produced by osmo-convection 

 

 

Group discussions with consumers in Poland and the Netherlands have revealed that they doubt dried fruit is healthy due to the relatively high sugar content. Dutch consumers also think that dried fruit is unnecessary when fresh fruits are available all year round. In order to change these consumer attitudes, ISAFRUIT researchers have developed some novel dried fruit products based on osmo-convectively dried blackcurrants and sour cherries. In osmo-convective drying, fresh fruits are soaked in a solution with a high content of one or more natural compounds e.g. prebiotics to promote a healthy intestinal flora, concentrated apple juice to give a sour taste or fruit sugars to give a sweet taste. These compounds affect the development of texture, nutrient composition and taste during drying. Sour cherries prepared in this way have been positively accepted in consumer-surveys. ISAFRUIT researcher Katarzyna Jesionkowska from Poland said: ‘This product was preferred by consumers because of its interesting taste, soft texture and nice glossy surface’. Some of the dried fruit products developed in ISAFRUIT are expected to be marketed in the spring 2010. GoFruit will report when the new products are launched.