Canned-fruit desserts make table sweeter

photo by roboppy
Canned fruit often goes on sale. While you prefer fresh, the low price and convenience are hard to beat. Open your pantry, and you might find you’ve got quite a few cans. Instead of opening it and simply dumping it into a bowl, you can use that fruit in delicious dessert recipes. Don’t toss out the leftover juice or syrup. Use it in gelatin (replacing some of the water), muffin and cake mixes, pour over meats, mix into your own homemade icing or freeze into cubes and use when making smoothies.

Fruit Starter
This is a two step process to ferment the fruit properly.

3/4 cup canned peaches in heavy syrup, drained and cut into pieces
3/4 cup canned pineapple chunks in heavy syrup, drained
6 maraschino cherries, cut in half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package Red Star Instant Blend Dry Yeast or Quick-Rise Yeast

Combine ingredients and place in a glass jar with a loose cover. Set in a fairly warm place. Stir several times the first day, then stir once a day. At the end of two weeks the starter has fermented enough to make sauce.
TIP: Share one cup of the starter with a friend. Doubling the recipe is not recommended.

Fruit sauce
1 cup fermented fruit
1/2 canned peaches in heavy syrup, drained and cut into pieces
1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks in heavy syrup, drained
6 maraschino cherries, cut in half
1 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar with a loose cover, stir well. Set in a fairly warm place. Continue to stir once a day. Sauce can be served after one week. Fruit and sugar must be repeated every two weeks. No need to refrigerate. Sauce will keep many months if directions are carefully followed.

Upside down cake

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1 cup drained fermented fruit
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup fruit syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in 8-inch square pan. Add brown sugar, drained fruit and nuts; mix well. Set aside. In medium mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour batter over topping in prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; loosen edges with knife and invert onto serving plate. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired. With permission from Red Star Yeast/Lesaffre Yeast Corp.

Pineapple-Orange Cake

1 (18-1/4-ounce) package yellow-cake mix
1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, juice reserved
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (16-ounce) tub whipped topping, thawed
1 (15-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3-1/2-ounce) package instant vanilla-pudding mix

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together cake mix, oranges with juice, eggs and oil. Pour batter equally into three greased and floured 8-inch-round pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool layers. Mix together whipped topping, drained pineapple and pudding mix. Frost layers and outside of cake, and refrigerate.
Optional: Sprinkle shredded coconut and chopped nuts on top. Garnish with mandarin oranges. You can also substitute applesauce for oil, use fat-free pudding and light whipped topping. — Adapted from a recipe submitted from Michelle S., Massachusetts

What’s your favorite recipe that uses canned fruit?

Posted by Sara Noel on January 8 2009. Filed under Frugal Cooking.
Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with United Media. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook.