Plum-Good Improvements

A pear-cranberry muffin was selected for the flavor synergy between pears and prunes and the moisture the pears provided to the formula. In this lighter, more-delicate product, plum purée could be added at up to 15% to replace 15% of formula butter. If more than this was used, the muffin darkened to an undesirable degree and the flavor of the dried plums overpowered the rest of the ingredients. Plum concentrate, when used in conjunction with plum purée, could be added at up to 10% to replace 50% of the formula’s heavy cream, 15% of the sugar and 15% of the butter. When plum concentrate was used in conjunction with plum purée, the percentage of each had to be lowered somewhat to avoid darkening the product too much.

An oatmeal cookie with cranberries was chosen so that diced prune pieces could be used to replace the cranberries. The light-brown color could work well with the dried-plum fiber, but we chose not to use it in this formula so we could maximize our use of plum concentrate instead. Fiber could be added at rates up to 4%, and it blended nicely with the natural, golden hue of the product. More fiber tended to darken the cookie too much. However, higher percentages could be used in a darker cookie containing chocolate or molasses. Additionally, one-quarter of formula butter or shortening could be replaced by plum concentrate, if desired. If more concentrate was used, the cookie lost its desirable crispy texture on the edges.