How to Freeze Summer Fruit

Preserve the summer fruit flavors

Freezing summer fruit is a great way of preserving the flavors of the summer season and bringing them out again in the middle of winter. The summer goes by quickly and with the warm weather comes the delicious summer fruits such as peaches, nectarines, berries and plums etc.

All these fruits freeze well and by freezing them now, you can still relive that gorgeous summer feeling by having them at the ready in winter too! Here’s how to freeze them and the best way of locking in their flavour so they still great taste when you defrost them:

Peaches and Nectarines – The stones dry when they freeze so they effectively rot the fruit from the inside out. Use your knife to cut at the half way point all the way around the fruit and twist the flesh from the stone.

Cut the peach or nectarine into quarters, get rid of the stones, and cover the fruit in lemon juice and sugar to preserve. Lay the quarters out into a single layer on a tray with greaseproof paper – pre-freezing will keep them separate for longer storage until the winter. Leave overnight to freeze and then place all fruit in a airtight plastic bag ready to place in the freezer.

Melons – Rather than trying to freeze and thaw a whole melon, scoop out the seeds and discard them. You will then need to either cut the flesh into cubes or balls. Throw away the skin, and spread the fruit in a single layer on greaseproof paper as above and repeat the same process.

Berries – Make sure any kind of berries you freeze are well washed before you store them away. If you see any ‘bad’ fruit, pick it out and throw it away. Once they have been cleaned, let them dry on some paper towel before you spread them on a tray for freezing and again repeat the freezing process as above.

Freezing these fruits (plus many other varieties) means that you can look forward to adding them to your baking list when it comes to the holidays. Use frozen fruits to make cocktails such as:

• Strawberry Margarita (use up your frozen strawberries)
• Sangria (use up your strawberries and oranges)
• Wallaby Darned (use up your frozen peaches)

Or you might like to do a little festive baking with the fruit:

• Cherry Blueberry Pie
• Angel Fruit Trifle
• Strawberry and Chocolate Chip Brownies

Find recipes for using frozen summer fruit on Recipebridge

Whatever you decide to do, you’ll be grateful of the refreshing summer flavors in the middle of winter time. So get organised and get freezing those fruits before the fall season starts next week!

Find many recipes for summer fruit on Recipebridge, which you can enjoy during winter season too.