Today, Luke, Thomas, and I worked with basic smoothie ingredients to create a berry-filled smoothie. We started by using frozen mixed berries blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries), Greek yogurt and orange juice. The recipe we began with was:
1/2 c orange juice
1/4 c yogurt
1 1/2 c frozen berries
After blending the ingredients thoroughly and a quick taste test, we decided that the mixture was too tart. However, a peer who also tasted the mixture suggested that there was too much yogurt. We changed the recipe so that there was more yogurt but less orange juice so that it would work proportionally. To prevent the orange juice from overpowering the yogurt, more yogurt was added in order to balance the orange juice. The new recipe we came up with was:
1 c orange juice
3/4 c yogurt
1 1/2 c frozen berries
The mixture we produced this time was thicker, which was a plus, but it still tasted too tart. This is when we got the bright idea to add sugar to balance the orange juice. Our final recipe is listed below.
Mixed Berry Smoothies
Yield: 2 8 oz. smoothies
5/8 c orange juice
3/4 c yogurt
1 1/2 c frozen berries
1 T granulated sugar
After blending the ingredients, another taste test was in order. The sugar balanced the orange juice and brought out the taste of the berries, producing a sweet and tasty smoothie. Sugar turned out to be an essential ingredient in this particular smoothie because the orange juice and berries were not particularly sweet. For example, one would not need to add sugar to a smoothie using canned fruit, such as pineapple, because the syrup it sits in is very sweet. Next time we make smoothies, we will be sure to add sugar from the very start.
Food, Film & Fiction 