Don't Make This Mistake When Adding Fruit To Blended Sauces

When spring and summer roll around, the door to tasty seasonal fruits such as peaches, cherries, plums, mangoes, and nectarines opens. And although fruit is delicious when eaten on its own, warmer weather also means that it's primetime to incorporate it into a sweet, tangy sauce. We love dousing our chicken breasts in a cherry balsamic sauce, for instance, or serving our baked salmon with a spiced ginger-rhubarb concoction. But if you're blending your fruity condiment for an ultra-smooth texture, there is one type of produce you'll want to keep out of your blender: dried fruit. 

Dehydrated mangoes or pineapple will only get stuck in your device. Not only will this make for an annoying cooking experience, but the fruit can actually stick to your blender's cutters, which can cause them to stop working properly. As anyone who's ever pulled apart dried apricots knows, this type of fruit tends to have a gummy consistency, which isn't ideal for creating a smooth sauce. But note that while you should stay away from dehydrated fruits here, the same rule doesn't apply to freeze-dried fruit. While the former still has approximately 20% of its liquid, the latter only contains 2%, so it's much less likely to stick to a blender's blades.

If you want to risk adding dried fruit into your blender, there are a few steps you can follow that might make for smoother pulses. You can try soaking it first, which will rehydrate it and lessen some of that sticky texture. All you need to do is let it sit in a covered bowl with boiling hot water for about 15 minutes, after which point you can pour the liquid out. As an alternative, you can cut up your fruit into tiny pieces, so that they're less likely to attach to your device's blades. But either way, make sure any liquid you're using goes in the blender before the dried fruit, and pulse the two together before adding anything else.

Still, using fresh or frozen fruit is a far easier route. You will need to go the extra mile beforehand and remove any unwanted parts (such as mango peels). But then, simply slice and plop the chunks in a blender by themselves and whirl them into a purée. Once your purée has been strained, you can add in powdered sugar, maple syrup, or honey, an acidic component like lemon or lime juice, and flavorings such as vanilla extract or cinnamon. You'll end up with a fresh, flavorful fruity condiment, without the fear of breaking your blender.