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Show FAHManaHOME&j IITAH STATE EXTENSION SKKVICB AGRICULTl'KF HOMK ICOMIIIIOI By Mary Lois Reichert Home Demonstration Aaent UNSWEETENED FROZEN FRUIT A Question frequently asked of the U. S. Department of Agriculture Agricul-ture during the summer months is Can fruits be successfully frozen froz-en without sugar or sirup?" Actually, Act-ually, most fruits hold their fresh color, flavor, and texture longer when frozen with sugar or sirup than when packed unsweetened. Fruits packed in a sugar sirup usually us-ually are best for dessert use, while those packed in sugar or without sweetening often are used for cooking, because there is less fruits have as high quality qual-ity when frozen without sugar as with sugar for example: gooseberries, goose-berries, cranberries, rhubard, and figs. Here's how to pack them unsweetened for gooseberries, currants, and cranberries, wash and stem fully for your freezer. Rhubarb may be packed raw or after pre-heating. To help retain the color and flavor, heat the rhubarb rhu-barb in boiling water for one minute, cool promptly in cold water. Then pack raw or preheated pre-heated rhubarb into containers (leaving' head space), :and seal. Pack figs in containers (leaving head space) with or without water. To retard darkening of the figs, cover with water containing ascorbic acid ( teaspoon to 1 qt water), seal and freeze. - FREEZING SPICE CAKE Spice cake for home freezing recently has been tested by Ulinois Experiment Station researchers. They report that baked spice cake rated good after a period of 16 weeks at about zero F. in a home freezer, but that spice cake made from batter frozen in cartons in j the freezer only one week were not good and after four weeks storage, off-flavors, sometimes described as "fishy" were noticeable. notice-able. Thus, if you want spice cake handy in the freezer, it pays to bake it first, even though a cake takes more room in the freezer than a carton of batter and calls for more careful wrapping. Homemakers have been so interested in-terested in the- freezing of cake that a number of State Experiment Experi-ment Stations have made studies and such shortened cakes as choc- olate, plain and white. Now spice cake has had its turn and high time, too, because it's a favorite with many people, and because some reports have indicated that spices in cooked foods lose their potency or change flavor in frozen storage. Other reports indicate that some cloves become stronger in frozen foods. The Illinois cakes were spiced with cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. After baking, they were allowed to cool at room temperature three hours, then heat-sealed in moisture-proof wraps which were over-wrapped over-wrapped with white paper. Some were thawed at room temperature, which took five hours. Others were thawed by placing in an oven at 300 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Freezer wrapping was kept on the cakes during the thawing- Thawed in, or out of the oven this proved good both in texture and flavor or eating quality qual-ity in both cases. Obviously, the spices kept all right for 16 weeks in the freezer. |