How can I vary the flavors in my child’s compote?

In order to assure a safe transition from milk to solid food, your child will eat purees and mashed food for a few months to get accustomed to new flavours and textures.  The apple compote is the most well-known taste when it comes to dessert. Toddlers love it and its natural sugary taste makes it a staple in your child’s food rotation. As a parent, you maybe want to think outside the box and try not to give your child the same dessert every day.

 Children need to be introduced to healthy food at an early age and it starts with vegetables of course, but also, with fruits. If you want to change a pureed compote’s taste, you need to keep in mind that if your child is only starting to eat fruit, that it is better that you give them a compote made of a single fruit at first. They need to get familiar with each different taste before moving onto mixtures.

Cooking homemade compote is a great way to control your child’s food intake, to make sure that they only eat healthy food and to introduce them to new tastes that you might not be able to find in your local store. It is not always recommended to give exotic fruits to a baby because they can develop potential allergies. However, your child can eat any other fruit if you cook it in a safe texture to avoid choking. Tender and mature fruits such as pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, or peaches, for example, can be mashed with a fork or mixed without cooking. However, less ripe fruits like apples or pears, must be boiled and transformed into compote.

Bear in mind that you shouldn’t add sugar to your purees. Your child will already enjoy the natural sugary taste of a fruit. Furthermore, it is better that you avoid giving added sugar to your child before the age of 1 as it can cause cavities even if they don’t have teeth yet and it can affect their ability to fall asleep and potential ties to obesity down the line.

Making a compote is usually easy, you just need fruit and water. Put those two ingredients together and cook them in a pot. Wait for the fruit to be tender enough that you can mix easily and voila! As easy as 1-2-3! You no longer have any excuse to avoid cooking the perfect compote for your baby!