What are?
Cooked apples are a food of a tendentially vegetable origin, with moderate energy intake, sweet taste and beneficial / therapeutic impact, especially towards the "lazy" intestine.
We have anticipated that the recipe for cooked apples tends to be vegetable. This adjective indicates that, in most formulas, foods of animal origin are not used; on the other hand, for some, honey can replace sugar and, after cooking, a knob of butter improves the fragrance of the aroma.
Someone likes to combine spirits distilled with a recipe for cooked apples; among these, especially brandy, cognac and whiskey.
Cooked apples
X Problems with video playback? Reload from YouTube Go to Video Page Go to Video Recipes Section Watch the video on youtubeIngredients
The ingredients of the cooked apples are few and easy to find:
- apples,
- sucrose,
- lemon zest and juice,
- water,
- ginger,
- cinnamon
- cloves.
Let's analyze them one at a time.
apples
Apples are the edible fruits of the Malus domestica plant. These fruits reach maturity in the autumn summer months, depending on the variety.
The most suitable apples for the preparation of cooked apples are medium-grained, very sweet, of a size between 120 and 180g, ripe but not "wrinkled" (unless you want to recycle those at home) and with or without peel in based on personal tastes (if peeled, better to buy them on secure supply lines).
The most suitable apples to be cooked could be the medium-ripened apples. Alternatively, the renette also lend themselves , of variable maturation according to personal tastes.
Sucrose
It is the chemical name of table sugar (disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose). It is a sweetener that provides around 390kcal / 100g.
This product of beet or sugar cane processing can be found in the form of white or brown crystals, based on the original ingredient; the best is undoubtedly the integral sugar.
In cooked apples, sucrose can easily be replaced by other caloric sweeteners, such as crystallized fructose or honey (non-caloric sweeteners, with few exceptions, tend to be avoided).
Lemon juice and peel
Lemon is the edible fruit of the Citrus x limon plant. It is a product that reaches maturity in the spring-summer period, depending on the variety. The most important requirement, of which it is always good to take into account using the lemon peel (of which the flavedo is to be used, or the superficial colored portion), is that the fruit must never be treated with fungicides, pesticides and preservatives.
Ginger
It is the edible rhizome of the Zingiber officinale plant. This food, considered a spice, if used fresh must be peeled and dosed carefully according to personal tastes; in fact, it can be combined with apples cooked in slices, pieces, grated or whole. The powdered one is certainly less intense and depleted of many nutrients and phytotherapeutic components.
CINNAMON
Also a spice, it is the dehydrated wood of the Cinnamomum verum plant. It is a tropical product and can be found on the market packaged and already dehydrated, whole or in powder. Cinnamon must also be used carefully, as it has an extremely strong aromatic capacity. That powder is less intense and impoverished than many nutrients and phytotherapeutic components.
Cloves
They are flower buds of the Syzygium aromaticum plant. Like the last two ingredients mentioned, cloves must be dosed accurately since they boast a very high aromatic power.
Nutritional Features
Cooked apples are a food that can be classified as a dessert. It is a product with a low energy content, essentially provided by simple carbohydrates; on the contrary, proteins and lipids constitute a marginal fraction.
Cholesterol is absent, while dietary fiber (consisting mainly of pectin) is abundant.
From the saline point of view, cooked apples provide an excellent amount of potassium; as far as vitamins are concerned, although the initial content of ascorbic acid (vit C) is more than satisfactory, after cooking it is reduced more than significantly. The content of carotenoids (provitamin A) is moderate.
Baked apples lend themselves to most dietary regimens, as long as the amounts for type 2 and obese diabetics are contained. They do not contain gluten and lactose, and perfectly fit into the diet of vegans. The average portion of cooked apples is about 200g (around 115kcal).
Cooked apples are also rich in chemical elements different from the classic nutrients; some of these, such as polyphenols, have a fairly significant phytotherapeutic power.
Beneficial Properties
Cooked apples are excellent foods for the nutrition of those suffering from compromising the digestive system, as long as in the absence of severe diarrhea.
In moderate portions, they can replace the sweet in the diabetic and obese diet.
Thanks to the richness in pectin (soluble dietary fiber), apples lend themselves to the regulation of intestinal motility, in irritable bowel syndrome and, generally, in constipation. Among other things, they play the role of a prebiotic food in an excellent manner, thanks to the affinity of the intestinal bacterial flora for the fibers contained in them.
Thanks to the fiber content, cooked apples favor the modulation of digestion and intestinal absorption; if there is no added sugar, they lower the insulin index of the meal. Last but not least, they reduce the absorption of cholesterol thanks to the tendency to bind with fats, moderating their absorption.
The baked apples, thanks to the presence of ginger, can also promote digestion (stomachic effect, thanks to the gallbladder stimulation), peripheral circulation, remission of the sense of nausea, vomiting and fever.
Cooked apples also have other important metabolic functions; this happens with regard to the presence of phytotherapeutic molecules contained in the apples themselves and in the other ingredients.
- Polyphenols of apples, ginger, lemon, cloves and cinnamon: they have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, preventive against hypercholesterolemia and against hyperglycemia. They help prevent the onset of diseases and metabolic complications.
- Antibacterial and Vermifuge molecules of ginger, cinnamon and cloves: these three ingredients have the ability to hinder the bacterial growth of some pathogenic microorganisms and the proliferation of intestinal parasites. Cinnamon, in particular, could also have a stimulating effect on some components of the immune system.
