Fresh Fruit Kanten
I love using agar to make fresh tasting summer desserts.
Agar is so light the sumptuous flavors of fruits in season really take center stage.
As mentioned in Apple Juice Kanten, the jelling agent in agar reacts to acid in fruits. The more acidic the fruit, the more agar you will need.
It was fun testing five of our local in season fruits.
I used equal amounts of fruit and apple juice in each and cooked each 10 minutes.
No surprise that the strawberries needed a little more to set. Also the plums needed just a pinch more.
Here are the results. The last picture is a halfhearted attempt to layer the beautiful colors of Kanten in a bowl. The colors blended a little because I did not thoroughly set and chill the bottom layer with each addition. Still looks pretty and tastes great, but if you want to to get distinct layers you know what to do.
Fresh Fruit Kanten
Makes 2 cups
Takes 15 minutes plus time to set
Blueberry
1 cup unfiltered organic apple juice
1 cup blueberries
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp agar flakes (or 3/4 tsp powder)
Pinch sea salt
Strawberry
1 cup unfiltered organic apple juice
1 cup cut strawberries
1 Tbs. plus 2 tsp agar flakes (or scant 1 tsp powder)
Pinch sea salt
Peach
1 cup unfiltered organic apple juice
1 cup cut peaches
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp agar flakes (or 3/4 tsp powder)
Pinch sea salt
Green Grape
1 cup unfiltered organic apple juice
1 cup green grapes
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp agar flakes (or 3/4 tsp powder)
Pinch sea salt
Plum
1 cup unfiltered organic apple juice
1 cup cut plums
1 Tbs. plus 1 heaping tsp agar flakes (or 3/4 tsp powder plus a pinch)
Pinch sea salt
Place juice, agar , sea salt and fruit in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Stir often, especially on the bottom of the pan to keep the agar from settling before it is completely dissolved.
If after 10 minutes it looks like the agar agar is not all dissolved you can cook a few minutes longer.
Turn off heat.
Pour into desired dish(dishes) and put in frig. to set.
Will keep up to 5 days refrigerated.
