Throwing in some fruit when making baked goods always sounds like a good idea at the beginning. Unfortunately, however, the results can often be mixed. The fruit tends to act strangely during baking and can affect the consistency and taste of your cakes and pastry in a bad way. Fortunately, this can be easily avoided if you note some helpful tips for baking with fruit that we collected from pastry chefs and baking experts. Check them out below.
Use Fresh Fruit
There are some fruit, most notably berries, that act better during cooking when frozen. But otherwise, you should always use fresh fruit. The fresh fruit has much more flavor, and you will avoid the excess liquid that often follows the frozen fruit.
Wash and Dry
If you are using fresh fruit, make sure to wash it thoroughly in order to remove any impurities. The next step is drying it with a clean paper towel, as the remaining water could have a bad impact on the chemistry of your cake or pastry.
Cut the Fruit into Smaller and Evenly Sized Pieces
It might be tempting to use large chunks of fruit for your baked goods, but this is often not the best choice. Cutting fruit into smaller and evenly sized pieces will help it bake evenly while ensuring that you have fruit in almost every bite.
Flour the Fruit
You might have noticed that the fruit has a tendency to sink when thrown into the batter and collects on the bottom. This is especially nerve-wracking when you are baking some muffins and want to have fruit all the way through. Flouring the fruit before adding it to your baked goods is usually a good way of avoiding this. The flour will also help prevent the fruit from falling apart and will absorb the excess liquid.
When in Doubt, Pick Bananas
If you want to add some fruit but are not set on any kind, go with bananas. They are always available, act great during the baking process, and complement almost all baked goods.
