Better Homes and Gardens (Australia)

Freeze ’n’ store

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Now is the time to fill your baskets with summer fruits until they overflow. Eat a few now and stash the rest away for the coming months. With just a little bit of smart buying, preparatio­n and freezer space, you will be able to warm up chilly autumn mornings with a splash of delightful summer day vibes.

It’s easy peasy!

BERRIES

Arrange fresh berries in a single layer on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Freeze until solid. Once frozen, transfer the fruit to zip-lock bags. We recommend you freeze 1 cup per bag. Label, date, freeze.

USE THEM in smoothies, cakes and muffins.

MANGOES

Remove skin and seed from mangoes, then dice the flesh into 2cm pieces. Arrange mango flesh pieces in a single layer on a tray lined with baking paper. Freeze. Once frozen, transfer to zip-lock bags. Label, date, freeze.

USE THEM in cheesecake­s, cakes, smoothies and muffins.

PASSIONFRU­IT

Remove pulp from passionfru­it, transfer into ice-block trays and freeze. Once frozen, remove fruit from the tray and transfer to zip-lock bags. Label, date, freeze.

USE THEM in smoothies, icings, juices and ice blocks.

BANANAS

Peel bananas, roughly chop and put into zip-lock bags. It’s best to freeze them with just one banana per bag. Label, date, freeze.

USE THEM in smoothies, cakes, slices and ice-cream.

TRY THIS

To make a quick banana ice-cream, put 1 roughly chopped frozen banana and a generous spoonful of Nutella into a food processor and process until smooth and thick. Serve immediatel­y.

TROPICAL FRAPPE

Preparatio­n time 5 mins Cooking time nil Serves 4

1 banana, chopped, frozen 2 cups roughly chopped, peeled and cored pineapple, plus extra wedges, to garnish 2 cups roughly chopped

mango flesh

250ml coconut water

1 cup crushed ice Pulp of 2 passionfru­it

Green pineapple tops, to decorate

STEP 1 Put banana, pineapple, mango, coconut water and ice into the jug of a blender and process until smooth.

STEP 2 Pour into glasses and drizzle with passionfru­it pulp. Garnish each glass with pineapple wedges and decorate with

2 green leaves of pineapple top (these are not for eating).

Sip and slurp on these fruity cups for breakfast, lunch or mocktail hour. Cheers!

EASY PEASY PASSIONFRU­IT SLICE

Preparatio­n time 25 mins Cooking time 30 mins Serves 15

1 cup self-raising flour

½ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup caster sugar, plus

extra 2 Tbsp

¼ cup mashed ripe banana 125g butter, melted

395g can sweetened condensed milk 2 Tbsp passionfru­it pulp,

plus extra 3 Tbsp

2 Tbsp lemon juice, plus

extra 1 Tbsp

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C convention­al). Grease a 27 x 17cm slice tin with cooking oil spray. Line base and sides with baking paper.

STEP 2 Put flour, coconut and sugar in a large bowl and stir until combined. Add banana, pour in butter and stir with a wooden spoon until thick batter forms. Spoon into tin and press down firmly, using back of a dessert spoon to level out. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

STEP 3 Combine condensed milk, passionfru­it pulp and lemon juice in a medium bowl until smooth and thickened, then spoon over base, spreading to level out. Bake for 12 minutes or until condensed milk mixture is slightly bubbling around edges without browning. Set aside in tin to cool to room temp.

STEP 4 Meanwhile, combine extra sugar, pulp and juice in a small saucepan. Heat over a medium heat, stirring occasional­ly, until sugar has dissolved. Continue to cook, without stirring, until simmering. Cook for a further 2 minutes or until mixture has slightly thickened (it will thicken even more on cooling). Set side to cool to room temperatur­e.

STEP 5 Drizzle cooled passionfru­it syrup over cooled slice. Cut into squares and serve.

BERRY PEACHY PUDDINGS

Preparatio­n time 10 mins Cooking time 35 mins Serves 4

Cooking oil spray, to grease 2 Tbsp caster sugar,

plus extra ½ cup

1 tsp cornflour

450g yellow peaches, pitted,

each peach cut into 8 wedges 1 cup self-raising flour 1 free-range egg

125ml milk

100g unsalted butter, melted 1 tsp vanilla extract Finely grated zest of 1 lime 2 Tbsp raspberry jam,

plus extra, to serve

125g raspberrie­s

125g blueberrie­s Double cream, to serve

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced (220°C convention­al). Lightly grease four 2-cup capacity shallow ovenproof baking dishes with cooking oil spray.

STEP 2 Put 2 Tbsp of the caster sugar in a large bowl with the cornflour and peaches and toss to coat. Divide between dishes. Bake for 15 minutes until softened.

STEP 3 Meanwhile, put flour and extra caster sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Add egg, milk, butter, vanilla and lime zest and beat well with a hand whisk until smooth.

STEP 4 Decrease oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C convention­al). Drizzle jam over the top of the peaches, then dollop batter over the top. Scatter with half of the raspberrie­s and half of the blueberrie­s. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside for 10 minutes, then scatter with remaining berries, dollop with cream and swirl with extra raspberry jam. Serve.

MANGO AND COCONUT ICE-CREAM PIE

Preparatio­n time 20 mins Cooking time Nil Serves 10

Cooking oil spray, to grease 150g whole dry roasted almonds 250g shortbread biscuits, crushed 50g unsalted butter, melted 1 free-range egg

2L vanilla ice-cream

50g sachet coconut milk powder (from Asian aisle of the supermarke­t)

½ mango, flesh finely diced, plus extra 1 mango, flesh thickly sliced, to decorate Toasted coconut flakes, to garnish ¼ cup salted caramel topping

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 180°C fanforced (200°C convention­al). Grease a 24cm (base measuremen­t) x 4cm deep, loose-bottomed fluted tart tin with cooking oil spray and line base with a disc of baking paper. Line an ovenproof tray with baking paper. STEP 2 To make the tart shell, place roasted almonds in the bowl of a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Add biscuits and process until fine crumbs form. Pour in butter and egg and process until combined. Press biscuit mixture into the base and up the sides of prepared tin. Bake for 15 minutes or until tart shell is light golden. Cool completely, then remove from tin. Transfer shell to prepared tray.

STEP 3 Meanwhile, put ice-cream in a large bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. Beat with a wooden spoon until slightly softened. Sprinkle over coconut milk powder and beat until combined. Stir through mango. Spoon mixture into cooled tart shell and use the back of a large spoon to smooth surface. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight until frozen. STEP 4 Remove pie from freezer and transfer to chilled serving plate or cake stand. Decorate with extra mango slices. Scatter with coconut, then drizzle generously with caramel. Serve pie immediatel­y. NOTE The easiest way to cut the pie is to use a large knife dipped in hot water and dried with a tea towel.

GINGER BEER POPS

Preparatio­n time 5 mins plus 6 hours 20 mins freezing Cooking time nil

Serves 8

500ml ginger beer

½ cup thinly sliced wedges of ripe, peeled and cored fresh pineapple

½ x 125g punnet raspberrie­s

STEP 1 Put ginger beer in a large jug and whisk briefly until bubbles subside. STEP 2 Put pineapple into a 4-hole, ¼ cup-capacity popsicle mould. Put raspberrie­s into a second 4-hole, ¼ cup-capacity popsicle mould. Pour ginger beer over the top of the fruit until moulds are ¾ full. Freeze for 20 minutes, then insert a popstick into the centre of each mould. Freeze for a further 6 hours or overnight until frozen. Serve.

RED FRUIT SALAD WITH MERINGUE CRUMB

Preparatio­n time 10 mins Cooking time 5 mins Serves 4

¼ cup caster sugar

¼ cup water

2 sprigs mint, plus extra

leaves, to garnish

1 vanilla bean

¼ seedless watermelon

125g punnet raspberrie­s

½ x 250g punnet strawberri­es,

hulled, thickly sliced into rounds 10 cherries, halved, stoned 2 store-bought mini pavlova nests

STEP 1 To make the dressing, put caster sugar, water and mint sprigs in a small saucepan. Split vanilla bean, remove the seeds. Put seeds and bean into saucepan. Heat over a medium heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened slightly. Set aside to cool to room temperatur­e. Mixture will thicken on standing.

STEP 2 Remove rind from watermelon and slice the flesh into thin elongated wedges.

STEP 3 Stack the watermelon, raspberrie­s, strawberri­es and cherries on 4 serving plates. Crumble pavlova nests over the top, scatter with mint leaves and drizzle with syrup. Serve.

CARAMELISE­D PEACH BRUSCHETTA

Preparatio­n time 10 mins Cooking time 5 mins Serves 4

¼ cup caster sugar

2 ripe yellow peaches, stones

removed, quartered

4 slices fruit bread, toasted 1 cup Greek-style yoghurt 1 cup mixed berries (we used raspberrie­s and blueberrie­s), to serve Small basil leaves, to garnish

STEP 1 Put sugar on a small plate. Press cut side of each peach wedge into sugar to coat.

STEP 2 Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat then add peaches to hot pan. Cook, turning occasional­ly, for 5 minutes or until peaches are golden and coated in a toffee-like layer. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes. STEP 3 Spread toast with yoghurt, top with cooled peaches and drizzle with the pan juices. Scatter with mixed berries and garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediatel­y.

bruschetta makes the perfect canvas to create a tasty — and toasty — work of art

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