You’re here to learn to make pate de fruits, right? I will teach you how to make them using raspberry as the example flavor, but first, I really want you to read this whole post (I promise it’s not too long).
In it, I’ll share some tips and tricks I learned while making these in a commercial kitchen, how to store them long term, and how to make them low-sugar.
You can also download my “cheat sheet” of 25 pate de fruit formulas optimized for Boiron purees while you’re here.
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Pate de Fruits, At a Glance
✅Skill Level: Intermediate
✅Skills: Cooking a sugar solution to temperature
✅Type: Jelly candies
✅Number of Ingredients: 5
✅Prep Time: 15 minutes
✅Cook Time: 30 minutes or until your mixture reaches 223F
✅Yield: One half-sheet pan of pate de fruits, or about 234 1″ square candies
Jump Straight to the Recipe
The Formula
The basic pate de fruit recipe is pretty straightforward.
The trick is in knowing the perfect amount of pectin to use for each kind of fruit. Since most fruit already contains pectin at different concentrations, the amount you must add differs for most types of fruit.
Professional pastry chefs have access to formulas that are specifically formulated for each type of fruit puree a particular manufacturer sells.
I have one of these formula sheets at my disposal, and I am going to share it with you now.
NOTE: Right click on the image below and choose “Open in a new tab.”
Tips and tricks for success
While pate de fruits are not hard to make, there are some tricks to being successful with them. And I want you to be successful!
They have a short list of ingredients, but the way you mix them together can have a big impact on your finished candies. Here are some of the points to keep in mind and what I will teach you:
- The correct proportions of puree, sugar, glucose, citric acid and pectin
- How to add the pectin so your guy stay nice and smooth
- What to expect when you’re heating the puree
- How to stay safe while making them
Stick with me, and when you make perfect “fruit paste,” you’ll be rewarded with simply beautiful
- texture
- flavor
- mouthfeel
The magic of making pate de fruits is making sure you have just the right amount of thickening power, in the form of pectin, to let them set up into slick, slice-able jewel-toned tiles of fruit flavor without overdoing it and ending up with something boingy. We are not going for boingy.
Okay, we’re getting to the recipe. But first, to address some possible issues before they come up:
How Hard is it to Make Pate de Fruits?
While it’s not hard to make these little candies, it’s not really easy, either.
Or rather, it’s a fussy process.
There is a lot of stirring and cooking of thick, viscous, bubbling molten fruit and sugar.
I’ve gotten some lovely burns from exuberantly burbling pre-pate-de-fruits, so if you’re going to make some, be careful and be prepared for it to take quite a while–maybe up to 45 minutes or so of stirring.
The time isn’t as important as the temperature, and the magic temp we’re shooting for is 223F.
Can I use my own fruit puree?
Yes, you can, although if you do, I cannot guarantee that you will get perfect results with this particular formula since it is optimized for use with Boiron puree.
Having said that, I know of some folks who have used homemade puree with good results.
Just know that you may have to tweak the amount of pectin and/or citric acid to get the perfect set and balance.
Equipment
As I have said, the equipment list is not very long.
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You’ll need a heavy bottomed saucepan, an accurate instant read thermometer, a Silpat for pouring and a half sheet pan.
This LavaTools instant-read is a great choice. It reaches temperature in a matter of seconds, is easy to read, and more important, it's accurate. An excellent thermometer for most home uses, from deep frying to candy making to checking doneness in meat, bread, and other baked goods.
I also like a pizza wheel for cutting your candies once they’ve set up, but you could also go for one of those fancy multi-wheel cutters if you know you’ll use it a lot.
I recommend storing pâte de fruits in an airtight container with a couple of desiccant packs in it to keep them nice and dry. Note that the desiccant packs I link to are rechargeable, meaning you can dry them out for repeated use.
I love this feature because you’re not just throwing them away after one use.
How Much Citric Acid?
In the formulas, the citric acid needs to be dissolved in an equal amount of water. So, if the formula calls for 15 grams of citric acid called for in the formula, dissolve 7.5 grams citric acid in 7.5 grams of water.
If the formula calls for 20 grams of citric acid, dissolve 10 grams citric acid in 10 grams of water before adding it when the formula specifies.
My favorite Boiron purees
I really recommend purchasing Boiron puree to make your pates de fruit, especially since the formulas come from Boiron and were optimized for their puree formula.
The pureee is pretty pricey, but it is fantastic. Plus, your results are all but guaranteed, as long as you follow the formulas exactly.
To begin with, I recommend just purchasing one flavor and making 1 tray of candies. If you cut them into small squares, you can easily get 400 candies, plenty for hooking up everyone on your gift list!
Start with the raspberry and then try passion fruit, strawberry, or mango. Those are some of my favorites!
These formulas also work very well with Perfect Puree and CapFruit brands.
I’d caution you about using homemade puree, since it’s not standardized. You run the risk of your pate de fruits setting up either too firmly or not firmly enough.
What kind of pectin to use
We always used powdered pectin from the “regular grocery store,” and never had any problems.
Do not purchase the low- or no-sugar needed pectin, and you should be fine. Ball and Sure-Jell are two trusted brand names that provide consistently good results.
I don’t know how to change the formula to use liquid pectin, so please stick with powdered to make your pate de fruit recipe.
Other candy recipes to try
Here are some other candy recipes you might enjoy–either for eating yourself or for gifting. Enjoy!
- Butter Mints are on the opposite end of the candy spectrum from Pate de Fruit. No cooking at all. This easy version of butter mints is really just a stiff American buttercream that you can shape into mints
- Crunchy Butterfinger Candy Bars This is another pretty exacting recipe, but the result is a crispy, crunchy, layered candy bar, much like store-bought Butterfingers. But better because you can use better chocolate!
- Bourbon Honeycomb Candy Made using Bourbon honey, this is classic “sponge” candy.
- Old-Fashioned Creamy Cocoa Fudge About as old-fashioned as you can get, this cocoa fudge was from a reader’s grandmother. All she had was the ingredient list, so I worked with it to give her the instructions. Et voila!
- Chewy Butterscotch Candy Traditional butterscotch from a very, very old recipe, I cook this only high enough so it sets into a chewy candy. If you’re interested in crunchy butterscotch, this butterscotch hard candy is right up your alley.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Love Pate de Fruits? Please Rate and Review the Recipe. Thanks!
It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.
You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
Other ways to share include pinning, and/or sharing on your favorite social media platform.
Thank you so much for taking the time!
NOTE: I have had good luck using these formulas with both Perfect Puree and Cap Fruit. Note that perfect puree comes in 30 oz containers, so you will need to Do Math to scale the recipe from 1000 grams of puree to 850 grams.
NOTE ABOUT CITRIC ACID: Either use lemon juice in the same amount as called for in citric acid (for example, 15 grams citric acid = 15 grams lemon juice). If using citric acid, dissolve it in an equal amount of water before adding it to your candy (for example, 15 grams citric acid = 7.5 grams citric acid dissolved in 7.5 grams of water).
Raspberry Pate de Fruits
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1000 grams Boiron raspberry puree (1 container)
- 1140 grams sugar
- 200 grams corn syrup
- 7.5 grams citric acid diluted in 7.5 g. water (or 15 g. lemon juice)
- 20 grams powdered pectin
Instructions
- Mix about 100 g. of sugar with the pectin. Whisk them together really well. This helps keep your pate de fruits from having pectin globs in it. So do it.
- Heat the puree to 120 degrees. F.
- Whisk and whisk, and add the pectin/sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and let boil one minute.
- Add the corn syrup and the rest of the sugar. Cook to 223 degrees, F. This could take a very long time. Your thermometer will read 218, and you'll think, "Oh, I'm almost there!" Wipe that grin off your face; this is going to take some time, so settle in and make sure you're wearing long sleeves.
- Once the mixture reaches 223F, stir in the citric acid/water mixture or the lemon juice. Cook one more minute.
- Pour the molten pate de fruits mixture into a half-sheet pan which you have lined with heavy duty plastic wrap or Silpat. Let set up at room temperature until cool and sliceable. This could take a few hours.
- Once firm, slice them into small squares, or cut out fun shapes with tiny cookie cutters. Roll them in granulated sugar. For "Sourpatch" pate de fruits, mix a little citric acid in with the sugar (to taste) and roll them in that mixture.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
General Notes
Generalizable to 25 formulas in the downloadable list. To be clear, each formula requires slightly different amounts of sugar, citric acid, and pectin, so please refer to the chart. All formulas are based on 1 kg or 1000 grams of Boiron puree.Storing
Make sure to store your pate de fruits in airtight containers. For storage of more than a day or two, I recommend getting some disposable or rechargeable desiccant packs. DO NOT USE A SHARP KNIFE TO CUT THESE IF YOU POURED YOUR MIXTURE ONTO SILPAT. You will end up with 1″ squares of Silpat which are good for absolutely nothing.Clarification on Citric Acid
If the formula calls for 15 grams citric acid, you can use EITHER 7.5 grams citric acid dissolved in 7.5 grams water OR 15 grams of lemon juice. If the formula calls for 25 grams citric acid, you’ll need 12.5 citric acid dissolved in 12.5 grams water OR 25 grams lemon juice.Nutrition
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At the risk of being another greedy child, can I have those recipies as well?
Emailing you now, Jennifer. 🙂
Would you please email me your quantities/formulas for mango if you have them?
Thanks so much!
I’ll do that right now:)
Thank you! This has been very helpful. I was able to find the Boiron fruit puree at a local market. Do you happen to have any recipes for pate de fruits with wine or sparkling wine? I’d really appreciate it. Thank you!
I don’t off the top of my head, but you might do a search to see what’s out there. 🙂 Glad you found puree at the market–I was surprised; we’d never have it in any local groceries around here!
ooohhhh so excited I found your site online! What wonderful information you are sharing! Thank you! Now…do you think you could use wine for these treats? If so, what do you suggest the amount of pectin to use? Thank you so much! Heidi
Do you happen to have a blackberry version? Please and thank you 🙂
Hello
I have tried to make pate de fruit using fresh fruit puree. The result varies based on the type of fruit. Kiwi turns out really nice, however; raspberry, blackberry and passion fruit are “wet” and sticky to the touch. Could you please advise and/or share your recipes?
Thanks,
Julie
As you state, when using fresh fruit, your results will change based on the fruit, but more importantly, based on the sugar content of the fruit. Boiron standardized their puree for a constant %of sugar, no matter how much sugar in each individual batch of fruit. That’s how they can come up w/precise formulas that work every time. When using fresh fruit, I’m afraid you’re going to have to do some trial and error. You can hedge your bets a bit by using a pectin that works w/low sugar–a quick Google search should find you what you’re looking for.
Since my formulas are all from Boiron, most likely all will need tweaking to be used w/fresh fruit puree. If you re-read the last couple of paragraphs of the post, you’ll find out how to get all the formulas straight from the Boiron website. They’ll give you a good place to start. Good luck w/it! 🙂
Hi
Thanks for your reply – I would love to use the chart recipes published by Boiron, but I cannot find Boiron frozen fruit puree. If I use fresh fruit puree, how to adjust the level of sugar in Boiron’s recipes?
Thank you !
Hi I am going to try your recipe i would love that list if you would part with it?
Kind Regards
Scott
There is a link to the entire list towards the end of the post. When I wrote this, I couldn’t find a list. Boiron has since added one, so you should be able to go straight to their site and find the list. Happy to share 1 or 2 formulas at a time in an email, but if you want the whole shebang, it’s available from Boiron. 🙂 Here’s the link if you don’t feel like plowing through the post again: http://www.boironfreres.com/uk/uk_tableaux.htm Once there, click on “confectioners” to find the list. Thanks!
Hi there, thanks for these great instructions and information. I made an apple pate de fruits once but I thought I’d done it wrong, not realising what the texture was supposed to be like. Looks like I’d succeeded after all (all this while thinking I’d failed!). Thanks again, will definitely attempt this sweet again now.
Glad to be of help. And it’s hard to know what the texture should be like if you’ve never had/made them before. Congratulations on your un-knowing success! 😆
Hi
I was wondering if I could get the recipes for more of the pate de fruits. I like the sound of kiwi and white peach. We used to make cassis and passionfuit pate at work but unfortunatly I didn’t copy down the recipes before I left.
Thank you so much
I will, thank you so much!
Hi There,
I really want to try making a mint pate de fruit. If you have a recipe, I would be very grateful if you shared it with me. Is there a formula that works better with a runny liquid? Also, the pectin gives it too much tartness, any pectins with less flavor?
Thanks so much!
Jake
My first thought was to use a fruit puree as a base–maybe apple mint or pineapple mint would be amazing. But then, I found this blog post w/a formula for Vanilla-Mint: http://butterbadge.wordpress.com/category/candy/pate-de-fruit-candy/ Maybe you can use this as a starting point for your PdFs.
I found your website through a google search. Thank you for you info on pate de fruit. I went to the website for Boiron Fruit purees, but their recipe didn’t work for me. I tried it with passion fruit. I was wondering if you had a formula with passion fruit and guava and would please be willing to share it. Thank you so much for your time. Look forward to hearing from you. Judy.
Hi I have tried making pate de fruit with liquid pectin but they are not chewy enough so would like to try your recipe. Can I have your passionfruit version? Many thanks, juju
Hi,
Im a pastry student, and for our class we are doing a unit of modern desserts and contemporary plating. In this unit we are doing friandise. I came across this recipe and would like to do it for my final. I would greatly appreciate it, if you could please let me know the amount of pectin you’d place in for a green apple puree?
I realize its been a long time since you had posted this blog.
Thank you soo much!
Hi, I was wondering if you have a recipe for quince pate de fruit? I would imaging there would be less pectin than usual because quince contain a lot naturally but not sure how much to reduce the amount of pectin. I was also wondering if you recommend any particular brand of pectin?
Thanks!