Think raisins.
I know it sounds weird but I want to figure out how to add pieces of bright red cranberries to my baking that have no seeds (an issue of them causing stomach issues.) I might want to extend whatever I figure out to blueberries, as well.
My thoughts:
Perhaps I can cook and run the cranberries through a fine mill to remove the seeds. I do this when I make seedless raspberry jam. I can then take the fruit puree, make a thick jam and then dehydrate it to make a soft fruit leather which I cut up into bits. I believe it would retain its relatively bright red color. I would prefer not to add sugar but may need to in order for it to gel properly. It sounds involved (and is) but it would yield a goodly amount per batch. I can't think of any other way to do it or any other product that would do it.
Easy version would be to take jellied cranberry sauce in the can, dehydrate that and cut up into bits. My only reservation is that canned cranberry sauce is not bright red and I am looking for that pop of color.
Has anybody ever done this before? OR is there a seedless version of dried cranberries/blueberries out there. I haven't been able to find them.
First, I had no idea there were seeds in cranberries. It makes sense but I never noticed.
Second, what about converting cranberry jelly into gummies? Gemini says:
I don't know how they make it so red but it might be worth checking out.
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/12982-cranberry-jelly
Gary
Making a gummy using the gelatin is a good idea. Might be easier.
Yeah, the seeds are small but definitely there. My system knows, unfortunately. The same with seeds in my favorite blueberries and sesame seeds...and poppy seeds...and chia,etc,etc.
My red currant jelly is that same scarlet color when I make it. Beautiful!! One of the reasons I love it-appeals to my visual delight swirled in yogurt or on a biscuit.
Thanks!
I fear the gummies will liquify during baking anyway so how about swirling the cranberry jelly in?
Thinking about it is making me want to try it.
Gary
I think the gelatin would work as long as I made them chewy enough but I do like the thought of dehydrating the fruit puree (like a fruit leather). I can control the amount of sugar and just dice into raisin sized bits.
One place I found said keeping the bright red color was a matter of keeping the temperature low. I don't know if that is the key but looking at what is available, a bright red color is possible.
I'd love to hear how it works.
Gary
King Arthur sells Blueberry (and other) Jammy Bits for baking and they use pectin to thicken the purée. That might give a less rubbery product than gelatin. KA also claims that the bits won't melt in baking, but I don't know if the pectin is reason for that.
I suppose dried cherries aren't a good substitute?
I will definitely look into the KA jammy bits. Thank you! (EDIT: no bright red bits but the others look good. Looks like I will be doing homemade cranberry or possibly red currant jelly jammy bits)
Cherries taste good but I have used them and they are very dark color-almost black. I am looking for the brighter red that cranberries naturally have. Candied cherries are way too artificial.
I think making fruit leather and cutting it into small pieces is a good idea. I add small pieces of homemade fruit leather to granola when I make it. You don't need to make a jam first to make fruit leather. Just gently cook the fruit with a bit of water, puree and strain it, add honey or corn syrup, and spread it out on lined trays, then put them in your dehydrator or a very low temperature oven with the door cracked open. Once the leather's dry, you can snip off bits with scissors or use a pizza roller to cut it into small pieces. You don't need to add the sweeteners, but they do help to keep the leather flexible and somewhat to preserve the colour. I never care about the colour of the fruit leather I make, but since you do, I'd also add lemon juice or crushed up vitamin C pills. They prevent the oxidation that turns fruit brown.
However, dehydrating the cranberries will change their colour regardless. I've never seen dehydrated cranberries that are very bright. Even Ocean Spray's craisins are fairly dark. You might have better luck with red currants, as you've suggested. Their seeds are also bigger and likely easier to remove by pressing through a sieve than those of cranberries. You might need to experiment with different fruits until you find ones that you still like the look of once they're dehydrated. I'd also recommend mixing different fruits. Apples make, in my opinion, the best textured fruit leather, and since they are naturally light, they take on the colour of the other fruit or juice you cook them with.
Good luck!
Edit:
I went to my cold room to see if I had any homemade bright red fruit leather. These were the brightest reds of any dehydrated things I have. Mind you, I do not make any attempt to preserve colour when dehydrating. The leather on the left is a mixture of crabapples and raspberries with honey. The leather on the right is just crabpples and honey. The dehydrated crabapple pieces on the left are plain, and the ones on the right were soaked in sugar water before drying. Both sets of dried crabapple pieces were made in the fall of 2023, so still pretty bright and red for being two years old! The leathers are from the fall of 2024, so they're over a year old, too. My photography skills suck. The leather with raspberries, in real life, is noticeably brighter than the plain crabapple one, and the sweetened crabapple pieces are noticeably brighter than the plain ones.
Interesting response and great pictures. I have made fruit leathers (years ago) but never paid attention to maintaining a color and they were mainly applesauce and whatever other fruit was at hand and blenderized. I never added extra sugar, and I used a dehydrator. I think I'm going shopping in the jam/jelly shelf at the store and see what looks bright red (currant jelly? seedless raspberry?) to use. Mixing a jelly with a little applesauce might give them a bit more body. Dehydrate and cut into bits.
Thank you!
I think using jelly to colour applesauce, and then dehydrating it, would work really well. Let us know how it goes!
Your idea is spot-on. The only way to get seed-free, bright red cranberry pieces is to start from purée. Cook the berries, run them through a fine mill, reduce the purée, dehydrate into fruit leather, and cut into bits. A little sugar or juice helps keep the color bright. Commercial seedless dried cranberries/blueberries don’t exist — manufacturers basically do the same fruit-leather method.