Dried Fruits - Healthy and Natural Sweets |
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Baking cakes and preparing various sweets is an integral part of the holiday season.
Unfortunately, eating cakes often is not healthy due to high amounts of sugar they contain.
Excessive sugar consumption can be easily avoided by using dried fruits instead, which will make your sweets tastier and healthier.
Dry fruits are not only an excellent source of natural sugar, but they are rich with enzymes, vitamins and minerals.
They contain higher levels of minerals, especially potassium and iron, and are therefore considered very important in child’s nutrition.
For example dried raisins contain potassium, dried apricots contain potassium and iron, and dried figs contain potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium.
Moreover, dried fruit contains fiber which improves digestion.
Although moisture in fruits is removed by drying, still they contain all nutrients. The taste is the same or even more intensive, because dried fruits are actually a concentrate of nutritive ingredients.
And there is another advantage: if fruits are properly dried and stored, they cannot spoil.
How to Make Dried Fruit
Food drying is the oldest and healthiest method for preserving foods.
Food is dried in an airy and warm place, for the water to evaporate and not to ferment.
Since fruits often become dark during the process of drying, use this small trick – cut the fruits and put them in water and add a little bit of lemon juice.
This will prevent the darkening of fruits and they will keep their natural color.
Since during winter days the sun light is not so available for performing the natural process of drying, the fruits can be dried in the oven.
It is important to follow few rules: cut the fruits and spread them well in order for them to dry equally.
Every type of fruit will dry in different time, therefore you should dry them separately.
Heat the oven to 40-50 degrees. If the temperature of the oven is too high vitamins and ingredients beneficial for the body will be lost.
You will know the fruits are dried if when pressed no liquid occurs.
Fruits that are suitable for drying are apples, pears, plums, raspberries, apricots, elderberries and many other types of fruit.
For preparing aromatic tea you can dry an apple or quince peel.
When buying dried fruits it is important to know which drying method was used because modern food industry uses sulfur and other gases that cannot be found on food declarations.
These gases are used for protecting products against moths and other pests, for preserving their natural color and for canning.
A large quantity of sulfur may cause poisoning indicated in sings such as headache, nausea, diarrhea, gassiness and similar symptoms.
That is why it is safer to dry your own fruits or to buy them from eco-manufacturers.
Raisins
Of all fresh fruits, grapes are the riches in proteins and can give your body a considerable amount of energy.
They are rich with many nutrients and contain protective substances such as resveratrol and isoflavones.
Raisins are produced from certain types of grapes that are rich with various types of nutrients.
To improve your blood test and increase the level of hemoglobin in blood, take 5 black grape raisins and 5 almonds and soak them in water overnight. Eat them in the morning.
Apricots
Apricots contain high amounts of vitamin A which is known as a strong antioxidant that protects from degenerative diseases.
They contain B vitamins, vitamin C and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and potassium.
Dried apricots contain a higher concentration of these nutrients. When drying 100 g of apricots the level of vitamin A increases from 2,600 IU up to 7,000 IU.
Dried apricots are good for anemic persons because they contain extremely high concentrations of iron.
Prunes
Prunes are rich with vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin C, calcium and magnesium.
They are known as a natural laxative and can be used for constipation, especially in small children and elderly people.
Dates
Dates are rich with various vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B1, B5, folic acid, calcium, magnesium and iron.
This fruit is very sweet (fresh fruits contain 55% of sugar that becomes concentrated by drying).
Therefore, dates are an excellent natural source of energy. They revitalize the body instantly, without later decrease of sugar in the blood.
Recipe
Date Cake
Ingredients
- 100 g of dates
- 150 ml of water
- 150 g of flour
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- 100 g of oat flakes
- 150 g of butter or vegetable margarine
- 100 g of brown sugar or other natural sweetener of your choice
Preparation
Cut the dates into small pieces and boil them in water for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave them to cool.
Mix flour, baking powder and oat flakes in a large bowl.
Add pieces of butter and rub them well in the flour using your fingertips. Add sugar and mix.
Then add water in which you cooked dates. Mix well.
Pour half of the mixture into a baking pan, previously oiled and sprinkled with flour. Put the dates on the surface of the mixture. Then pour the rest of the mixture over dates.
Bake for 40-50 minutes at temperature of 180 C. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Then turn over the pan to pull out the cake. When the cake is cooled, cut it into slices.
Useful Tips
Dried fruits are rich in energy and it is good to eat them for breakfast together with nuts.
It is good to know that dried fruits are the best, if previously soaked in water.
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