Fruit Freeze: Part Deux

Fruit, like paint, or tequila and lime juice, is begging to be blended. And what fun would blended fruit be if you didn't also freeze it? To prove my point, I puréed and froze the following fruit combinations:

{*}Raspberries & Mangoes
{*}Pineapples & Blueberries
{*}Watermelon & Blueberries

Each of these were portioned into three servings. My discoveries are outlined below.

Raspberry Mango
1/2 cup raspberries
~1 cup mango pieces, diced into 1" cubes

Starting out a lovely red and marigold color, this fruit & berry combo was quickly whipped into a bright orangey-red purée in my blender. I liquefied the raspberries first, in hopes of straining out the seeds. After trying to strain the purée first through a sieve, and then a colander, I have concluded that if there is a good way to remove raspberry pulp from its seed, I have no idea what it is. I then justified my failure by assuming the seeds contain some kind of nutritional content, like fiber, which makes them beneficial. Confirmation TBA.

After freezing in plastic cups, for lack of Popsicle molds (thank you, Liz, for the DIY FYI), the result was a delightfully tart treat with a sorbet-like consistency. The combination of raspberries and mangoes created a pretty tangy flavor, which Sara and I both loved. If you're not so much into it, a bit of banana in the mix could add some sweetness and curb the intensity of two sour fruits.

Again, I portioned this into three servings, but in general, the breakdown for raspberry & mango is as follows:

1 cup raw raspberries: 60 calories, 1.1 g of protein, 14.2 g of carbs, 9.1 g of fiber, 0.7 g of fat, 187 mg of potassium, good source of flavonoids
1 raw mango: 135 calories, 1.1 g of protein, 35.2 g of carbs, 2.9 g of fiber, good source of beta carotene

Pineapple & Blueberry
1/3 cup blueberries
~1 cup pineapple, diced into 1" cubes
1/4 of a banana

As any piña colada aficiando can attest, one of the reasons blending up a pineapple is great is because it creates a frothy texture. When frozen, this lends itself to an almost creamy, dreamy quality that will leave you wondering if you are REALLY eating fruit and nothing but fruit in its purest form. (You are.) Liz squeezed some lime juice onto her frozen pineapple/blueberry treat for an extra tart kick. Something to consider.

Fun fact about pineapple: it contains the protein-degrading enzyme bromelain, which is used in meat tenderizers and plant-based digestive aids. 

The breakdown:
1 cup raw pineapple: 76 calories, 0.6 g protein, 19.2 g carbs, 2.95 g fiber, 0.7 g fat, rich in vitamin C
1 cup raw blueberries: 82 calories, 20.5 g of carbs, 4.9 g of fiber, good source of flavonoids
1 6.5 inch banana: 89 calories, 1.1 grams of protein, .3 gram of fat, and 22.8 grams of carbs, 2.6 of g of fiber, 358 milligrams of potassium

Watermelon & Blueberry

8 2" inch cubes of watermelon
1/3 cup blueberries
1/4 banana
~1 tablespoon lemon juice

I tried two versions of this: one was a straightforward blend using the above ingredients, the other was a blended watermelon slush with a lemon syrup (3 tablespoons water, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, juice of 1/2 a lemon, a bit of lemon rind) mixed in, with the blueberries suspended in the slush -- the entirety of which was frozen (pictured). I preferred the latter because I found it tastier. I probably could've gone heavier on the lemon, but that's a personal preference. We like lemon because it's low in sugar and high in vitamin C.

1 slice raw watermelon, 1" thick and 10" in diameter, without the rind: 152 calories, 3 g of protein, 34.6 g of carbs, 2.4 g of fiber, 2.1 g of fat, 560 mg of potassium
1 cup raw blueberries: 82 calories, 20.5 g of carbs, 4.9 g of fiber, good source of flavonoids
1 6.5 inch banana: 89 calories, 1.1 grams of protein, .3 gram of fat, and 22.8 grams of carbs, 2.6 of g of fiber, 358 milligrams of potassium

Let the moral of the story be that freezing blended fruit is even more awesome than freezing normal fruit -- it's MORE dessert-like, with ZERO added sugars (minus the lemon syrup thing -- but that was an expendable addition), and tasty enough to put any Popsicle or processed sorbet to shame.

However, while it pains me to say this, even fruit freezing has its down side: in some (but not all) cases, it could diminish the nutritional composition and value of food. While this is truer for some fruits than others, the overall health benefits of eating frozen fruit over a store bought Popsicle cannot be argued.

So there you have it. Frozen fruit, in deux parts.

Sources:

Ronzio, R. (2005). The Encycopedia of Nutrition and Good Health. New York: Checkmark Books.

WHFoods Newsletter online (2011, June 14). Raspberries. Retrieved from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=39