Freezer Series, Part II

Frozen berries might not be in your every-day first aid kit, but they’ve saved my life on more than one occasion.

These little beauties are great for quick, easy, impressive desserts or snacks. Probably my favourite use for my frozen berries is in my 5-minute berry strudel.

You just take a square of puff pastry, sit for 10 minutes, cut into to two rectangles, put some berries down the middle of one, slice some cuts in the other. Place the second rectangle over the top, press down on the edges and do a wash with beaten egg and bake. Scatter some icing sugar over the top when it’s done and serve. Quick, easy and, as Frankfurter would say, extremely pleasurable.

Just between you and I, I do feel like a bit of a fraud when I whip up that dish. It looks gorgeous and tastes great, but there’s so little investment required I feel like a cheat when my friends and family compliment me. I also had one unfortunate occasion when I had a dinner party and…GULP…forgot to do dessert. I whipped this up and no one was any the wiser. Game, set, match.

My other favourite use of my frozen berries is a quick berry coulis. Just boil down with some sugar and orange or lemon juice or zest. Add a dash of something alcoholic for a lovely tang – don’t tell her I told you, but my mum uses cassis and it works beautifully. Use as much as you want and refreeze the rest. This is a great way to spice up ice-cream with a quick drizzle, a lovely accompaniment to crepes or spooned through some Greek-style yoghurt.

Other uses for frozen berries include slipping into muffins or cupakes or even just using as a garnish on desserts or drinks. Also, consider muddling in cocktails for something summery.

Frozen berries come in separate or combined varieties – at the moment I’m trending towards the Sara Lee combined selection – the berries are more whole and look really pretty.