Tutti Frutti(Candied Fruit in assorted colors)

Tutti Frutti or what is called “Cherries” is a wonderful ingredient to add to goodies like Cakes,Ice Creams,Cookies or plain Buns.Made from Raw Papaya and immersed in sugar syrup,its a delicious do-it-yourself at home.Some places do not keep these ingredients and its a very good idea to make your own at home and give the family a treat.Here is the recipe for a lovely bowl of Tutti Frutti.

Ingredients

500 gms Raw Papaya – washed,peeled and finely chopped

The Papaya – washed,peeled and chopped into pieces

500 gms sugar

1 1/2 liters water

1 tsp Vanilla Essence/Extract

Edible food colors as required – green,yellow,orange and red

Method

Blanch the Papaya:

Boil 1 1/2 liters of water in a saucepan and when it boils vigorously,add the Papaya pieces.Boil for 5 minutes and let it remain in the hot water for another 5 minutes.Drain the water and let the Papaya cool.

Boiling the Papaya

The Papaya pieces -blanched

Make the sugar syrup:

Mix the sugar with a slightly higher quantity of water and dissolve the sugar.Add the Papaya pieces and cook on medium heat till the water reaches a 1-string consistency syrup.Take off heat and cool slightly.Add the vanilla essence/extract and mix well.

Cooking the pieces in syrup

Mixing the colors:

Divide the Papaya pieces according to the colors you have into separate bowls.Add a pinch/drop(depending on the fact if the colors are powder/liquid) and mix well with a toothpick for the colors to assimilate into the syrup.

Merging the colors with the pieces

Keep aside for at least 24 hours for the syrup and the colors to merge properly.

After 24 hours strain the Tutti Frutti through a sieve to drain it of all the sugar syrup and crystals(if any).This will again take 24-36 hours.

Straining the Tutti Frutti

After the Tutti Frutti is drained,store it in a stainless steel/plastic air tight container.

Refrigerate it and use it as and when needed.

The Tutti Frutti – ready for use..

Note: I have used a normal strainer/flour sifter to strain the Tutti Frutti.However you can use a flat sieve/strainer available easily in the market to strain it.You can merge all the colors as I have done or separate each color if you want to.