Fall is in the Air~Tips for Freezing Summer Fruits


What Should I Do with All This Summer Fruit?







Tips for Freezing Fruit
1. If your fruit is not organic, wash it. (Organic, delicate berries, like blackberries and raspberries, don't need to be washed.) Set the clean fruit on paper towels and gently cover it with more paper towels. Let it dry completely before freezing.
2. For larger fruits, like strawberries, apricots, and plums, core, pit, and stem them, then cut them into smaller pieces, which are easier to store and defrost.
3. Fruits that brown easily, like apples and pears, should be frozen in a sugar syrup: 1 1/2 pounds of sugar (about 3 cups) dissolved in 1 quart of water and about a 1/2 teaspoon of ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid can be purchased at many natural food stores.
4. If you plan to use your fruits for a pie filling, you can freeze them in a sugar syrup to help improve their texture (3 cups sugar to 4 cups water).
5. Fruits that are bruised, like bananas, can be mashed or puréed and then frozen and used later for things like smoothies or quick breads.
6. Freeze fruits using the tray freezing method: Place the fruits in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and set the sheet in the freezer until the fruits are solid. Then package the fruits in freezer bags or square freezing containers, removing as much air as possible before storing.
7. When possible, thaw frozen fruits in the fridge, not at room temperature. If you're in a rush, set the freezer bag or container in cold water.
Ideas for Using Frozen Fruit
Freezing changes a fruit's properties, particularly the texture. In On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee wrote that freezing creates water crystals that puncture the cell walls and membranes of food. So when frozen fruits are thawed, they're softer and the juices leech out. Which means thawed fruit is better prepared than eaten out of hand.
1. Turn defrosted fruit, including berries, bananas, peaches, and mangoes, into a breakfast smoothie.
2. Toss it over yogurt, granola, or cereal.
3. Add frozen berries or thawed mashed bananas to quick bread, muffin, or scone dough.
4. Purée defrosted fruits into popsicles, sorbetssherbets, or ice creams.
5. Stew them into jams, syrupssauces, or pie fillings. Heidi Friske, the general manager at Friske Orchards in Michigan, explained that they make their pies using frozen cherries. "We suggest making the pie filling first by cooking the cherries and thickening them with a nice glaze," said Friske. You can refreeze the cooled pie filling in small containers. I recently heard of a woman who places her prepared pie filling in a plastic-wrap-lined pie plate, freezes it, and then transfers the filling from the pie plate to a freezer bag. When she needs her pie filling she just plops it into frozen prepared pie dough and cooks the pie for a bit longer than normal. Brilliant, though I haven't yet tried it.
6. Toss small pieces of frozen fruit on pancakes or crêpes.
7. Use frozen fruit pieces as ice cubes in cocktails. They float!
8. Mix thawed berries into butter for a sweet and fruity spread.
9. Toss frozen or defrosted fruit in sugar and cover it with crumble, crisp, streusel, or cobbler toppings, then cook.
10. Mash thawed berries, add some sugar, and fold them into whipped cream for a fool.
Shared from: www.chow.com