Really Good Fruit SmoothiesFor a smoothie with knock-your-socks-off flavor, replace the usual yogurt with milk,
add juice for freshness, and then fill the blender with a lot of fruit.
"BY JULIA COLLIN"
".:-:,
tasters, too, preferred smoothies made with botl1milk and juice, Prepared this way, the fruit fla\'owere cleaner, brighter, and more potent. By comparison, the juiceless batch tasted mellow and, forlack ofa better '.\Tord, milky, I tested apple, orange,grape, white grape, cranberry, and white cranberry juice as weli as fruit punch, The mild, eas\'flavor of apple juice came in second place to theunanimous winner, white cranberry juice, Withan elegantly perfiJmed flavor, the white cranberryjuice added complexity and nuance that enhancedthe flavor of tile fruit rather than overwhelming it(see "Colorless Cranberry Juice," below), Redcranberry juice was just too potent and tart.orange juice tasted bitter and aciclic, and the grapejuices and fruit punch made the smoothie tastelike candy I played wim the ratio of milk to juiceand found that a 50/50 blend was optimal.
Sweeteners and FlavoringsThroughout the testing, it had become ob\'iousthat sugar was necessary to boost the fruit fla\'or.I tested other sweeteners, such as honey, maplesvrup, and brown sugar, but their earthinessmuted me flavor of the fruit, Lemon juice, onthe other hand, helped define the flavor of thefruit, making the smoomie taste clean and crisp,Owing to the variety and ripeness of each huit.it was impossible to measure the sugar anllemon juice in exact amounts beyond a rang,<: a 2 to 6 teaspoons, Out of curiosity, I tried adding:vanilla extract, but tasters gagged on it, A simplepinch of salt, on the other hand, helped brin=out the flavor of even the blandest berries,
Next I tried adding a banana to the mix, Mostrecipes add banana for flavor and sweetness d5
How does Ocean Spray m1ke its white cranbenyjuice white) The company uses immature, blondberries harvested a few weeks early. Becausethey haven' been on the vine as long as theirolder, red siblin s, they haven't had the chanceto develop the deep crimson color or a full flavorprofile, When compared with the classic cranberry cocktail. WIJlte cranberry juice (which ismixed with white grape juice concentrate) hasalmost no tll1t and a sweet, perfumed, easygoingflavor which we liked both straight up and inour smoothies, -J,c.
difficult to make weli, After giving someinitial recipes a whirl, I found their textures ranged from that of a 7-ElevenSlurpee to something like mili< of magnesia, and none offered much fruit flavor.The problem with these smoothies wasnot wim how they were made but withwhat they were made of. Besides fruitand ice, the ingredients included a \viderange of filJers and flavorings, from theobvious yogurt to the more obscure tofuand instant lemonade mix, To helporganize a list of ingredients for furthertesting, I categorized all reasonablepossibilities into four groups: dairv andliquids, sweeteners and flavorings, fruit,and ice, I also decided it would be easiestto develop the recipe using strawberries(their texture is neither too waten' nortoo fibrous) before trying other fruits,
Back to BasicsA basic smoothie is a blend of fruit, ice,and some sort of dairy. Without dair \',the fruit and ice make something akinto a slushy. Using a big handful ofstrawberries and several cubes of ice, Itested a range of dairy-aisle possibilities,including yogurt, milk, half-and-half,cream, tofu, buttermilk, and soy milk, Iwas slightly surprised when whole milkwon the tasting, Everyone in the testkitchen liked its clean, mellow flavor; itadded just enough fat and protein to keep
the smoothie from becoming a slushy, Althoughyogurt is the most common dairy component,tasters found its sour tang overwhelmed the more delicate Colorless Cranberry Juiceflavor of the fruit. Among theother contestants, buttermilkwas too tart, half-and-half andheavy cream too rich, and soymilk and tofu just too strange inboth flavor and texture, I triedreplacing the whole milk withskim milk and 2 percent milkbut found the reduced fat content left these smoothies wateryand hollow tasting,
To keep tile dairy in check,most recipes also add juice, My
For the best flavor, use 3'12 cups of fruit for every cup of liquidand chill the fruit to reduce the amount of ice needed.
Blurring the line between health food andjunk food, smoothies are everywhere,from convenience stores to donut shopsand drive-thrus, But these expensive,
generically flavored, candy-sweet concoctions arefar removed from me smoothies of 20 years ago,OriginalJy made wim ingreclients like flaxseed, oatbran, and soy protein powder, early smoothieswere holistic healthshakes spruced up with a handful of berries and a little ice, Yet a good idea lurkssomewhere between these junk food and healtllfood extremes-a smoothie that is icy, fruity,slightly sweet, lightly creamy, and thick but strawfriendly, A good smoothie should be satisfying andrejuvenating without tasting like a sweet milkshake or a fruity glass of Metamucil.
Although smoothies are easy to make, they are
20
We found that 3 '12 cups of prepared fruit are needed to make four
smoothies. Here's how to shop for fruit so that once you remove
any hulls. skins. seeds. pits. or cores you'll have the right amount.
How Much Fruit Do I Need?
\\'ell as its creamy, mouth-coating texture. vVith
the banana included, tasters admitted that mv
blended fruit drink had fmally turned the cornerand become an honest to-goodness smoothic.
The FruitWanting the smoothie to have a strong fruit thmr,
I made several batches, increasing the amount of
ti'uit per cup of smoothie base (milk, juice, sugar,
lemon juice, and salt). Although most recipes caU
for 1 cup oHruit for every cup of base, I ended up
BERRY SMOOTHIES
Vary the amounts of sugar and lemon juice
depending on the ripeness of the fruit.
The Big ChillTo cool off the smoothie, I began a llng :..:e ~o
the blender. Three cubes \\'erc the lin it: all\" JT.o~~
icc made the mixture taste \\atcn'. Bll[ r:
smoothi<.: was not cold enough ror lOSt" t :>
Frozen bananas cooled things off ni..:eh·. _uc :'.t;
took a long time to freeze through- 00 lo~=. i.:you wanted to make a spur-of-the-:'! O:ll __ :
smoothie. A good aJternati\c \\as to chill aU 0:- L'-:
fruit (including the bananai b\ I'j\'ing i 0 ton
baking sheet and freezing it for 10 minutes. Thesepartially frozen pieces of fruit easik blended i ~o
a frosty and rejuvenating drink. This \':a" nosugary shake or fibrous frappe-this \\'as a reaUy
good fruit smoothie.
medium ripe banana (about 4 ounces), peeled
and cut crosswise into eight pieces3'12 cups berries (about 16 ounces)
'/1 cup whole milk
'12 cup white cranberry or apple juice
Pinch salt3-6 teaspoons sugar
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
3 ice cubes (about 1'12 ounces total)
MAKES 4 '/' cups, ENOUGH FOR 4 SERV'NGS
adding 3V2 cups of strawberries per
cup of base. (Beyond 3V2 cups, the
mixture turned fibrous and mealy.)
This unbelievably high ratio not only
drove home the fruit flavor but also
helped bulk up the consistency.
Most commercial smoothies use
second-rate fruit and try to make
up for it with excessive dairy and
funky flavorings. It is this elemen
tary. discovery that draws the distinction between a great smoothie
and a bland wannabe (perhaps an
obvious observation-ripe fruit
made great smoothies, unripe fruit
made bland ones) .
Having developed the recipe
using strawberries, it was time to test
other fruits. I was aware that watery
fruits, such as watermelon, and thick
fruits, such as mangoes, might require variations
in the ratio of fruit to liquid, so I organized the
fruit into three categories: berries, melons, andtropical fi-uits. All types ofberries blended into the
recipe with ease, but melons did best with a little
less liquid. Thick tropical fruits, such as pineapple
and mango, required a bit more. Although Ifound that frozen fruit does work when fresh, ripe
fruit is unavailable, the smoothie won't taste as
fresh. I got best results when allowing the fruit to
defrost fully in the refrigerator.
16 ounces
I small melon .(2 112 pounds)
'12 large lllelon(2112 pounds).
2 large mangoes (.1'/4 pounds each)
2 small papayas (1'/4 pounds each) .
How Much to Buy
..'/2 large pineapple (3 pounds)
2-pound piece
PAPAYA
HONEYDEW
CANTALOUPE
PINEAPPLE
MANGO
BERRIES
Fruit
WATERMELON
-:- EST IN G E QUI PM E NT. The King of BlendersIf you've ever ordered a smoothie at a juice bar or coffee house, it
was probably made in a Vita-Mix. With a powerful motor and a price
tag of about $400, the Vita-Mix is both the ultimate blender and
the trophy appliance in any well-equipped kitchen. But how does
this souped-up blender compare with the $40 Osterizer, which
won our blender testing (see the May/June 2000 issue)? I set up astrenuous course of blending exercises to see just what this machine
could do.The Vita-Mix quickly ground 4 cups of roasted peanuts into 2 cups
of smooth peanut butter, while the Osterizer choked, its overworked
motor spewing out fumes, and produced only finely chopped peanuts.
With the Vita-Mix, I was able to blend I pound whole frozen straw
berries along with 2 cups ice, '12 cup sugar, and I cup half-and-half
into soft-serve ice cream. The blades of the Osterizer simply got stuckand refused to cut anything. Both machines were able to produce fine
crumbs from several slices of bread, but only the 249-mile-per-hour
blade tips of the Vita-Mix could produce hot fondue from cold ingre
dients in a mere four minutes.
A powerful 2-horsepower motor is behind the Vita-Mix's
superior capabilities. To put its brawn into perspective, consider
that an average food processor runs at I horsepower, a chainsaw at
3 to 4 horsepower, and a push lawn mower at 4 to 6 horsepower.Running at 0.60 horsepower, the Osterizer simply didn't have
enough power to compete in the tough tests I had designed. But,then again, the Osterizer costs a tenth of what the Vita-Mix costs,
and it works just fine when making smoothies and handling other
tasks you expect of a (mere mortal) blender. -J.c.
The Vita-Mix has more than three
times the horsepower of a standardkitchen blender, but it doesn't make
a better smoothie.
Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper;
arrange banana and berries in single layer on
baking sheet. Freeze fruit until very cold, but not
frozen, abollt 10 minutes. In blender, puree cold
fruit, milk, juice, salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and ice until uniformlv
smooth, 10 to 15 seconds. Taste for sugar and
lemon; if desired, add more sugar or lemon and
blend until combined, about 2 seconds longer.
Serve immediately.
MELON SMOOTHIES
Make sure the melon is absolutely ripe, if not
overripe. Underripe melon yields bland smoothies
that taste, if anything, like cardboard,
Follow recipe for Berry Smoothies, replacing
berries with equal amount of peeled, seeded,
and cubed watermelon, cantaloupe, or honey
dew (1- to 2-inch pieces are fine) and reducing
amounts of milk and juice to 113 rup each.
TROPICAL FRUIT SMOOTHIES
Follow recipe for Berry Smoothies, replacing
berries with equal amount of peeled, cored or
seeded, and diced pineapple, papaya, or mango
(1- to 2-inch pieces) and increasing amounts of
milk~and juice to 213 cup each.
,\\ ,\ Y [Y),' i'! F 2 002
2 j