We all try to reduce the calories and fat in our foods these days.. Why not do it by adding more flavor and moistener? Plum Puree is a wonderful substitute for some of the fat in recipes for cakes, muffins and cookies. Talk about a holiday delight! The secret will be all yours when you serve delicious moist cakes to your guests and happily announce they are reduced fat! Following are suggestions and helps offered by Stapleton's for using plum puree in place of part of the fats in your favorite recipes.

Use Guidelines for Dried and Fresh Plum Puree

Begin by removing all of the added fat (butter or shortening) and substituting 1/2 the volume or weight of the fat with either fresh or dried plum puree. You may then add back up to 1/4 or 1/3 of the original fat as needed to make the product. Remember, replacing all of the fat in the recipe may result in a product that is unacceptable Higher levels will result in darker and moister finished product. Note: plum puree works best in cake, muffin and cookie recipes. Puree is not recommended as a fat substitute in pie crust, croissant and phyllo dough applications.

The puree will add extra sweetness. If this extra sweetness is not desirable, you can compensate for this by removing 1/3 to 1/2 lb of sugar per pound of puree used.

Addition of a small amount of baking soda will help neutralize the extra acidity from the plum puree. Do no add too much as it will case too much crumb darkening and add an off-flavor.

Plum puree carries and enhances flavor very well. Try adding additional amounts of flavor to the recipe.

Total mixing times should be reduced during the flour mixing stage to avoid gluten over-development. Use a low protein flour for best results.

Don't overbake. Reduced fat goods are very sensitive to baking time and temperature. Bake at the minimum recommended time and temperature recommendations and increase as necessary.

Lightly oil your baking sheet or pans for easy release as reduced fat goods tend to stick to the pans.

Reduced/non fat cookie dough tend to stick to the wires during wire cutting. Some manufacturers prefer a knife cutting attachment. A vibrating attachment is available which can help dislodge the dough from the wire.

If the product seems excessively "gummy" reduce the levels of puree (add some fat back if necessary).
Summary

Plum puree is a great way to delicious, healthy reduced fat baked goods. The guidelines above will help you get a great start to turning your recipes into "plum good" healthy alternatives.

The Information on Plum Puree use in foods is posted with permission from Stapleton's. Visit them for more on Plums.