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As with the grapefruit pâte de fruit, it is best to not store these for prolonged periods because some water can separate out, unless you store them with a desiccant of some kind (as suggested by Pastry Chef Online). And if you want more reduced-sugar inspiration, check out this review of Baking with less sugar by Joanne Change, a baking book dedicated to the different ways of using less sugar in baking recipes.
Reduced-sugar blood orange pâte de fruit
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 whole blood orange ~160 grams, washed
- 166 grams freshly squeezed blood orange juice
- 150 grams granulated sugar ¾ cup
- 7 grams unsalted butter ½ tbsp
- 1 pouch liquid pectin I used Certo brand
- granulated sugar to coat the squares of pâte de fruit
Instructions
- Grease and line an 8x8-inch square pan with parchment, making sure that the parchment runs up the sides. I like to use metal 8x8-inch square pans like this one on Amazon. Open the liquid pectin packet and stand it up in a mug or a glass by the stove for later.
- Bring a medium pot of water to boil, and boil the whole orange for about 10 minutes to soften the peel. Let cool slightly, then cut the boiled orange in half. You will only need one half for a batch of pâte de fruit—I suggest you make a quick jam with the other half.
- Cut the boiled blood orange half in large chunks, removing any pits along the way. Place the grapefruit in a food processor and blend for at least a full minute to completely purée the fruit and to chop all the fibers/skin. You may need to add a little of the fruit juice to the processor to really finely grind the fruit.
- Transfer the fruit purée to a large pot, along with the juice, and granulated sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil on high, stirring constantly. Monitor the temperature with a digital candy thermometer (like this probe thermometer from Taylor on Amazon).
- When the mixture hits 118ºF (48ºC), add the butter, and continue to stir and cook the mixture until it hits 223—224ºF (106ºC).
- When you reach the final cooking temperature, immediately take the pot off the stove and dump in the liquid pectin. Stir well to make sure it gets evenly mixed in, then transfer the hot mixture to the prepared pan.
- Let the pâte de fruit set overnight, uncovered, until it is completely set throughout. Unmold the pâte de fruit, and cut it into 1-inch squares with a large, oiled kitchen knife and, just before serving, toss the cubes in granulated sugar to coat them. Store the uncoated pâte de fruit between parchment sheets.
Julie says
I'm a new reader, and I am loving your site lately! I have a B.S. in food science & engineering, and these posts take me back to my food sci courses!
Stephanie says
yay for accidental discovery!
And I also ignore baking failures. Ugly cookies, sunken cakes, etc sit sadly on my workstation until I force myself to toss them out.
Jen says
My goodness. I tried making blood orange pate de fruit today with presumably the same recipe you used at first, one that called for just boiling for five minutes. No thermapen, no nothing. It was still the texture of maple syrup after several hours. I reboiled it not once, not twice, but three times desperately trying to get it to set. Thanks for this post--I'm marching to the store tomorrow to buy myself a candy thermometer and making your recipe. Love your blog by the way!
Sarah | Well and Full says
I LOVE how you're combining your degree in chemistry with your love of cooking!! My degree was in Business, but I'm a secret science nerd 😉 Love your blog!!
Jordan says
I love your website and recipes! is there a reason you left out the honey in this recipe?
Janice says
Thanks, Jordan! I honestly added honey to the grapefruit pâte de fruit because I love the combination of flavours. Honey would definitely work here too!
marygreene says
Thanks for posting this. Very helpful. I've been looking for a reduced-sugar version and will give this a try.
I have a feeling that at some point you may have done a copy/paste from the grapefruit recipe to the blood orange recipe as your instructions here say to 'place the grapefruit in a food processor' unless that was an intentional error just to see if we were paying attention.