Pâtes de fruits↩ back

If you enjoy jam, you'll love pâtes de fruits. Making them is a bit more involved than making jam, but the results are worth it.

As shown in the pictures, this recipe focuses on mirabelle plum, but it will work with other types of plums, strawberries, and most berries, as they have roughly the same acidity level and pectin content. For other fruits, different pulp-to-sugar and pulp-to-glucose syrup ratios may be needed. This page serves as an introduction to making pâtes de fruits, not a comprehensive guide. Ratios for other fruits can be easily found online.

Ingredients

• 500g fruit pulp
• 550g + 75g crystal sugar
• 100g glucose syrup¹
• 20g yellow pectin
• 15ml lemon juice + 15ml water

It’s also highly recommended to have a kitchen thermometer on hand. You can technically make this without one, but if it’s your first time, a thermometer will help prevent mistakes, as this recipe can be easy to mess up.

Recipe

Fruit pulp can be hard to find for many fruits, and when available, it is often more expensive than fresh fruit. So, we'll start by making our own pulp from fresh or frozen fruits, which is quite straightforward.

Place your fruits in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally to prevent burning, and let them cook until they turn into a mash.

Next, push the resulting mash through a strainer to extract as much pulp as possible. This will ensure a pure and smooth consistency, leaving out any skins or seeds.

Your pulp is ready. Now, let’s make the pâtes de fruits!

Begin by mixing the 75g of sugar with the yellow pectin and set it aside. Then, mix the lemon juice with water and set that aside as well.

Put 500g of fruit pulp back into the saucepan over medium-high heat. Gradually add 550g of sugar to the pulp, stirring constantly, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Lower the heat and add the glucose syrup. Increase the heat again, continuing to stir, and bring the mixture back to a boil.

Next, add the sugar and pectin mixture while stirring continuously.

Now for the most crucial part: heat the mixture to 108°C (226°F) and maintain this temperature for 10 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning at the bottom of the saucepan.

A word of caution: this mixture is more than 50% sugar at this stage. Molten sugar can cause severe burns and quickly changes from liquid to syrupy to solid when cooled, making it dangerous and messy to work with. Handle with care, and avoid tasting it directly.

After the 10 minutes, add the lemon juice mixture and stir well. Bring it to a boil once more. You’ll need to act quickly now, as the citric acid will lower the pH, activate the pectin, and cause the mixture to start thickening and solidifying.

Pour the mixture into a square baking pan, either silicone or a metal/glass pan lined with plastic wrap. Let it cool and solidify in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

If everything went well, you should have a thick, slightly sticky block of pâte de fruits. Remove it from the pan and place it on your work surface (sprinkle some sugar down first to prevent sticking).

Trim the edges to make them nice and straight.

Then, cut the pâte de fruits into individual pieces. You can use cookie cutters for custom shapes, but I generally stick to simple cubes.

Finally, roll each piece in coarse crystal sugar. That’s it!

Your pâtes de fruits can last quite a while if stored properly. Keep them away from humidity and heat, ideally in a metal box at a temperature between 15°C (59°F) and 18°C (64°F).

Nutrition facts

Approximately 224kcal per 100g (raspberry-based).

Approximately 235kcal per 100g (mirabelle plum-based).

Note: nutritional value may vary depending on the specific brands and ingredients used.