“Summer fruitin’ ” and Paleo recipes

It’s summer and the fields and shops are full of fruit like gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries and more. It’s not even difficult to find some these beauties for free: blackberries in hedgerows or cherries in trees. (If you’re going foraging for fruit, make sure to pick away from roads where everything with be covered in a thin layer of fume dust.) There are obviously plenty of things to do with your fruit:

• Jam is an obvious choice. The quantities of sugar required to set a jam depend on the fruit. Jam sugar contains pectin which is found naturally in fruit and helps the jam set, fruits higher in pectin need less jam sugar. Fruits like apples, pears, citrus fruits and plums all contain quite a lot of pectin so will probably need less jam sugar and more normal sugar. You could attempt to reduce the sugar content for a healthier alternative by using things like stevia sugar or simply adding less!
• Crumbles are of course a British classic. Standard recipes use 2:1:1 ratio of Flour:Butter:Sugar, all rubbed together and scattered on top of a pie dish full of fruit. My family’s favourite crumble recipe is actually a Jamie Oliver Spicy Plum Crumble which can of course be used with any fruit. I also like to use the 2:1:1 ratio but use half flour (normally gluten-free in my house) and half oats or ground almonds or even dessicated coconut. This gives added crunch and texture.
• Pies. So simple. Line a pie dish with shortcrust pastry and blind bake to avoid soggy bottoms, fill with fruit and top with another layer of pastry. Or line a tart tin, blind bake, fill and top with strips of pastry to make a lattice. Shortcrust pastry is so easy, try it gluten-free here.
• Fools are a mousse type dessert often made by folding fruit or fruit compote through. A simple fool can be made by whipping together 200g Greek yogurt, 200ml double cream, 2 tbsp icing sugar and a splash of vanilla. This can be folded with any fruit compote you prefer (Mum loves gooseberries) and popped in martini glasses or ramekins to set for a couple of hours. To make a compote simply place your fruit in a saucepan with a sprinkle of sugar and simmer for 15 minutes to bring it together. The amount of sugar is up to your…do it to your taste. You could use agave nectar or honey or date syrup if you prefer to use naturally occurring sugars.

There are obviously plenty of other things to do like Tarte Tatin (another family favourite), or frangipan tarts or even meringue roulades using the fruit in the middle with fresh cream.  My mum loves her soft fruit and while attempting to eat Paleo (gluten-free, grain-free and dairy-free) where she can, I now tend to make a pudding by topping stewed fruit with an almond-based sponge mixture. Recipe below, its quick and simple, low in sugar, Paleo and super yummy.

Simply combine these ingredients and mix well, pour on top of fruit such as plums (cooked for 15 mins with star anise, date syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger) and bake for 45 minutes at 160C.

• 3/4 cup of soya yogurt
• 1/2 sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups ground almonds
• splash of vanilla
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Go on, get baking with all of the lovely British fruit out there at the moment!

Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Sugars: The Flapjack Example

Many people find flapjacks a good on-the-go snack when they need energy fast and they serve that purpose well. However, a standard flapjack recipe will contain nearly 40% sugar. This recipe shows how to cut down on some of the extrinsic sugar found in one of the nations favourite (seemingly healthy) snacks.

Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Sugars (a very brief overview)

Nearly all of the sugar in a standard flapjack with be extrinsic: sugar added to foods that is not bound up in the structure of a food. In reverse, intrinsic sugar is found bedded into the structure or cells of foods like fruit and vegetables. Foods higher in intrinsic sugars are likely to have a lower Glyceamic Index meaning that the energy those sugars provide is released more slowly as the food is digested. Excessive extrinsic or added sugars are likely to spike your blood glucose levels leaving you less energised later on, sometimes craving more sugar and if you do not burn off the calories they provide, likely to be stored as fat quicker than intrinsic sugars. Both types of sugar are also linked with increased tooth enamel decay as plaque bacteria in the mouth ferments these sugars to produce acid.

Sugar is not only linked with what might seem like the obvious health issues like obesity and dental health but also has a wider impact as described in my post on 2015 Diet Trends. Therefore, it is probably wise that we all reduce the amount of sugar we’re eating; it’s everywhere, but it can be difficult to cut it out all together. So why not try cutting down on your extrinsic (added or “free”) sugars with this recipe for a hearty snack or on-the-go breakfast?

Fruit, Seed and Nut Flapjacks

Nutritional content as compared to a Graze “Fruit and Seed Flapjack” of the same weight:

	Our recipe	Graze
Calories	158	225
Fat	11.9g	11g
Saturated fat	3.4	3.5g
Sugar	11.3	19g

Look similar don’t they? Most of the fat in this recipe actually comes from the nuts and the seeds which provide mono and poly-unsaturated fats as well as protein. The sugar in this recipe is mostly intrinsic too rather than extrinsic from the addition of sugar or golden syrup as in the Graze product.

Makes 16 portions

Can be made with whatever dried fruit, nuts and seed you have lying around. Instead of using sugar to make a sticky gloop that binds the oats togeher, we use pureed fruit.

• 200g oats (gluten free if possible)
• 150g low fat margarine or dairy-free spread
• 2 tbsp honey (essential for binding it all together)
• 100g dried fruit like sultanas or dates
• 50g mixed seeds
• 75g mixed nuts
• 150g apricots
• 5 tbsp water

1. Preheat an oven to 180C and line a standard (26cm x 19cm), deep baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Place the nuts in a food processor and blitz to chop up the nuts. You can do this by hand if you like but you want them quite small. Pop in a large mixing bowl.
3. Place the dried fruit and 50g of the apricots in a small saucepan with the water and honey. Heat to soften the fruit, a few minutes.
4. Place in the food processor and blitz until smooth.
5. Melt the margarine in the same saucepan and when melted, add the fruit puree back in and mix well.
6. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the bowl and chop up the remaining apricots into small pieces. Add these to the bowl.
7. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well until everything is coated with the margarine and fruit.
8. Press into the baking tray firmly and make sure it is even.
9. Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned at the edge.
10. Leave to cool in the tray. It may seem a bit crumbly at first but once cool, it will hold together.
11. Slice into 16 chunks and enjoy for up to 10 days in a sealed container.