Ascorbic acid prevents cut fruit from turning brown. Citric acid provides tart flavor. And dipping apple slices into honey is delicious. Photo by Tova Photography | IST.

One of our colleagues wondered, “What’s the difference between citric acid and ascorbic acid? Aren’t they both in lemon juice?”

Yes, but the two products are not interchangeable.

Citric acid and ascorbic acid are both found in citrus juice, as well as in numerous other fruits and vegetables. But they have different properties.

Now that you know the difference, put it to work.

Start by serving sliced apples with a honey dip or drizzle. Use ascorbic acid—dip the sliced fruit in a lemon juice-water mixture—to keep the flesh from turning brown.

For citric acid: make some lime juice cordial!

The same is true with lime juice cordial (also called lime cordial, and essentially lime syrup).

Rose’s is the lime juice cordial most of us are familiar with. It’s lime juice concentrate and water, sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. The yellow-green color comes from Blue 1, an artificial food color. Sodium metabisulphite is added as preservative.*

In the U.K., this type of concentrated fruit syrup is called squash or cordial, and is made from fruit juice, water and a sweetener. (The more sophisticated flavors contain herbal extracts, such elderflower and ginger.)

For a soft drink, the cordial is mixed with club soda or water, in 1:5 proportion. Try it in ginger ale and cola, too.

For a gourmet touch, make your own lime cordial. Photo courtesy Rose’s.

The most popular use for the syrup in the U.S. is mixing with alcohol in a cocktail recipe. You can’t have a Gimlet or a Vodka Lime without lime juice cordial.

*When Rose’s product was patented in 1867, sugar was used as a food preservative. Rose’s enabled fresh lime juice to be preserved without the addition of alcohol. Today, the brand is owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. In the U.S., the sugar has long been replaced with HFCS. In the U.K. and Canada, sugar is still used: The regulators in those countries are not keen on HFCS.

RECIPE FOR LIME JUICE CORDIAL

This recipe makes about 3 cups. It has a shelf life of one to three months in the fridge. If you won’t use all of it, bottle it and give it to a cocktail- or soda-loving friend.

Ingredients

 
†Cream of tartar, a derivative of tartaric acid, isn’t acidic enough for this recipe.

Preparation

1. Heat water to boil.
2. While water is boiling, whisk together sugar, citric acid and tartaric acid in a small bowl.
3. Add to boiling water and whisk until sugar mixture completely dissolves. Add lime juice and rind, and stir.
4. Heat mixture for 2 minutes on high heat; cover and cool to room temperature, then mix in vodka.
5. Refrigerate overnight in an airtight container. Strain out rind and return mixture to fridge.
6. Extra step to extend the life of your cordial: Sterilize the bottle and lid by boiling for 10 minutes or heating in the oven at 180°F for 15 minutes.

WHEN NOT TO USE LIME JUICE CORDIAL

Sometimes you want the flavor of lime juice cordial, sometimes you don’t.

Because it’s easier and cheaper, some bars substitute lime juice cordial when fresh lime juice is called for—in a Cosmopolitan, Margarita or Mojito, for example. If you order a drink and anticipate a refreshing lilt of lime, you may be disappointed if the bar uses lime juice cordial.

Ask if fresh-squeezed lime juice is used, and if not, request that yours be made with it. Every bar has fresh limes. The fresh juice makes a big difference.

Halloween cake pops: a spooktacular treat. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

It’s tough work!

Hand-decorated to look spooky, these Halloween chocolates, cake pops, brownies and other sweets taste simply spooktacular.

Take a look at this festive Halloween assortment, which includes—among other delights—cake pop eyeballs and ghosts, caramel-filled chocolate eyeballs and great-tasting white chocolate ghosts.

Whether you’re looking for a gift or a well-deserved treat for yourself, we highly recommend each “boo-tiful” bite.

Read our review.

Go directly to the goodies.

This all-purpose kitchen knife, similar in shape to a small chef’s knife, is most often used with fruits and vegetables. It can carve, chop, core, de-stem, peel and slice easily. It also makes delicate cuts for garnishes.

It’s the go-to tool when you need control for delicate work like removing the ribs and seeds from chiles. Yet it can also be used to devein shrimp and even bone pieces of chicken.

The blades of paring knives typically range from two to four inches. They can be smooth or serrated.

And the tips of the knives, straight or curved, are each designed for a different situation:

 
If you’d like to work with the different shapes, chef Michelle Bernstein has licensed her name to a line from Fagor that includes a four-piece paring set: one of each style of paring knife. The knives have plastic handles and knife sheaths and are available in three colors: blue, lemon lime and red.

You can find them on Amazon.com.
  

The 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off has announced the 100 finalists who will compete for the $1 million grand prize in March 2012. You can check out the finalist recipes at Bakeoff.com.

The winning bakers will be wearing winning aprons as well. Three designs have been created by former Project Runway Designers: Althea Harper (finalist, Season 6), Kara Janx (Season 2) and Carol Hannah Whitfield (finalist, Season 6) (designs shown left to right in the photo).

You can vote for your favorite apron design until October 17th at Facebook.com/Pillsbury.

Hopefully, Pillsbury will make the winning apron available to the rest of us. It may be our one shot at owning a garment by a Project Runway designer. (We want Carol Hannah’s apron!)

Feel like baking? See our Cookies, Cakes & Pastry Section and pick a recipe.