Home Frozen Fruit

A stash of frozen fruit is a wonderful thing to have in the freezer. And the great thing about doing it yourself is that you can go way beyond the usual super market array of frozen berries. It’s also a wonderful way to make sure any excess ripe fruit you have hanging around doesn’t get wasted.

takes: 5 minutes
makes: as much as you use
fruit you want to freeze

1. If you’re not going to eat the skins when defrosted like bananas or mango, peel the fruit.

2. Chop fruit into bite sized chunks.

3. Place in a ziploack bag or other container and pop in the freezer.

Variations

different fruit – all berries, peaches, pears, nectarines, cherries, bananas, plums, mango, pineapple, oranges, apples.

roast fruit – take vanilla roast fruit and freeze it.

Usage Suggestions

fruit sorbet – pop frozen fruit chunks in your food processor and whizz with a splash of water until you have a lovely sorbet. Taste and add a little sugar and whizz again if needed. It might take a while so be patient.

ice cream – pop frozen fruit chunks in your food processor and whizz with a splash of cream or coconut milk until you have a lovely ‘ice cream’.

sauce – defrost fruit first then whizz with a little sugar until you have a smoothish sauce. Great drizzled over ice cream. Sometimes I add a splash of lemon juice if I feel it needs some freshness.

mousse – take the sauce and fold it through whipped cream so you have pretty swirls.

smoothies – add chunks of fruit to your favourite smoothie instead of ice.

Prepare Ahead?

Absolutely. Takes about 6 hours to freeze, depending on your freezer strenghth and the size of your fruit chunks.

Storage Best Practices

Store frozen fruit in an airtight container or ziplock bag to prevent freezer burn. You want the container to just fit the amount of fruit because extra space is wasted in the freezer. Can be frozen for up to 12 months.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

fruit – freeze it!

Problem Solving Guide

fruit sticking together – if you get a big lump, next time place your fruit on a tray and leave it to freeze into individual pieces for 24 hours and then transfer to a container or ziplock bag to protect from freezer burn.

watery fruit – when defrosted frozen fruit does tend to be watery and quite different from fresh fruit. This is an unavoidable part of the freezing process caused by cell walls breaking when the ice expands in the fruit. The only solution is to freeze super quickly using liquid nitrogen OR just expect the fruit to be watery 😉

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