How to turn leftover fruit into a multi-coloured sweet treat

We fill our fruit bowl on market day each week, and if any of it ripens too quickly, we simply cut it up and freeze it to give us a good pudding base on hand at all times. It’s best to lay the pieces of fruit flat on trays with space between them, so they don’t freeze into one solid block. Our daughter has a small bowl of frozen fruit for pudding most evenings, but when we’re feeling fancy, we blend it up into today’s soft-serve-like sorbet and top it with grated chocolate, coconut, seeds and/or nut butters. It’s best eaten immediately, or at least within a few hours of making, but it will keep in the freezer for up to six months. If it becomes hard and icy, cut it up, blend again until smooth, and freeze in an ice-cube tray for ease of use.

Fruit bowl sorbet

I’m not sure what I like more, real ice-cream or blended frozen fruit. The latter certainly carries less guilt, because it is free from sweeteners and all the other rubbish that goes into making much commercial ice-cream. Eaten fresh from the blender, it has a very satisfying natural sweetness and creamy texture, too.

A tutti frutti of mixed fruits blended with yoghurt, milk or a plant-based alternative is delicious and hassle free, but it’s also fun for the family to pop on their chef hats and create interesting combinations with what you have available. Some family favourites we’ve tried in the past include kiwi and avocado with brown rice drink, mango and tangerine with coconut yoghurt, and blackberry and banana with hemp drink.

Serves 2-4

300g ripe fruit
150g yoghurt, or milk or a plant-based alternative

For the toppings (all optional)
Grated dark chocolate
Coconut shavings
Nuts and seeds
Nut butters

Peel the ripe fruit, if need be, then trim off any inedible parts (stems, pips and blemishes). Cut the remaining fruit into 2cm dice, then lay it all out on a tray with some space between the pieces. Put in the freezer until frozen, then transfer to a container, seal and store in the freezer until needed.

To make the sorbet, blend about 300g frozen fruit with 150ml yoghurt (or milk or a plant-based alternative) until smooth; add extra liquid, if need be, and blend until the mix is thick, creamy and like a soft-serve in texture. You may need to stop the blender every now and then and stir to make sure all the fruit gets processed.

Serve immediately, or freeze for up to two hours, stirring with a fork every 30 minutes to maintain that smooth texture. Enjoy just as it is, or top with your choice of store cupboard ingredients such as grated dark chocolate, coconut shavings, nut butters, seeds and more.

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