There’s nothing quite like eating a handful of fresh, crispy fruits to brighten your day and nourish your body. But why not get your creative juices flowing and whip something up with them? There are plenty of fruit recipes you can experiment with, so here are 5 wonderful ideas to help you get started.

1. Honey-Coated Pears & Carrots

Our first recipe combines the crunchiness of carrots and pears with the mouth-watering sweetness of honey. Honey-coated pears and carrots work amazingly as a side dish for an office party or a healthy treat in between meals. It will take about 15 minutes to prepare all of the ingredients and an additional 20 minutes to cook.

Serves: 12

Time: 35 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

3 pears (peeled, chunked)
1 1/3 kg. carrots (peeled, sliced)
1 cup butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. parsley (chopped)
1 tsp. cinnamon (ground)
½ tsp. nutmeg (ground)

Instructions

1. Put a steamer insert in a saucepan. Pour water until it’s close to the steamer’s bottom.
2. Steam pears 5-10 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl.
3. Steam carrots 10 minutes. Add to the bowl on the side.
4. Put butter in saucepan and heat on medium.
5. Add the honey, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.
6. Simmer and stir 5-10 minutes, until melted.
7. Coat the carrots and pears with the glaze.
8. Sprinkle chopped parsley and serve.

 

2. Pineapple, Papaya & Mango Squares

If you have a craving for exotic fruit like mango, pineapple and papaya, these lovely squares will be more than satisfying. This shortbread-cookie-base recipe combines all three of these scrumptious fruits that will make 9 guests extremely happy. Cooking totals to 2 hours and a half, while preparation will take roughly 45 minutes.

Serves: 9

Time: 3 hours 15 minutes

Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

Filling

2 cups pineapple (peeled, chopped, cored)
1 cup papaya (peeled, seeded, chopped)
1 cup mango (peeled, pitted, chopped)
½ cup orange juice
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp. lemon peel (grated)
½ tsp. orange peel (grated)
1 pinch cloves (ground)

Crust

2 2/3 cups flour
1 ¼ cups butter (unsalted, room temp.)
¾ cup sugar
¾ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt

Instructions

Filling

1. Place all filling ingredients in large saucepan.
2. Set heat to low and cook for approximately 1 ½ hours, stirring often.
3. Take out the cinnamon stick and leave to chill.

Crust

1. Beat the sugar, salt, butter and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until it forms a paste.
2. Add a bit of flour at a time on low speed until the dough starts to form.
3. Round up the dough and make a large ball. Separate in 2 pieces, one a bit bigger than the second.
4. Press each until flatted into a square shape.
5. Secure both pieces in cling film.
6. Cool for 15 minutes.

Squares

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Unroll the bigger piece of dough and spread until it becomes a 25 cm square.
3. Put the dough into a smaller baking pan, between 20-22 cm.
4. Spread on bottom and sides upwards.
5. Add the filling to the crust.
6. Take the remaining smaller piece of dough and spread out to a 22 cm square.
7. Slice strips of 3 cm wide each and place them on top of the filling and diagonally, to form lattice.
8. Bake 50 minutes.
9. Chill and slice in 9 squares.

 

3. Pear & Apple Crisps

Autumn fruits are perfectly combined in this warm and easy-to-make treat. This delicious recipe is great for serving during seasonal family gathering or sharing with your closest friends. Preparation takes about half an hour, while cooking around 55 minutes.

Serves: 8

Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

Fruits

4 pears (peeled, cored, chunked)
6 apples (peeled, cored, chunked)
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup flour
2 tbsp. lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
2 tbsp. orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 tsp. cinnamon (ground)
1 tsp. lemon zest (grated)
1 tsp. orange zest (grated)
½ tsp. nutmeg (ground)

Topping

200 g. butter (unsalted, cold, diced)
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup classic oatmeal
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. kosher salt

Instructions

Fruits

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.
2. Put the fruits and then the rest of the crisp ingredients into a large bowl.
3. Pour all ingredients into a baking pan that measures around 23 by 30 by 5 cm.

Topping

1. Mix all topping ingredients using an electric mixer with paddle head for 1 min. on low speed.
2. Gradually add over the fruit until it is covered evenly.

Crisp

1. Put baking pan on a sheet pan and in oven.
2. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden-brown.

4. Rocket Strawberry Salad

Regardless if you don’t have much time on your hands or you just want to serve a unique appetizer to your guests, Martha Stewart’s famous Rocket strawberry salad is perfect. We recommend this zesty treat with a bottle of rosé to impress your significant other or the couple you’re double-dating with.

Serves: 4

Time: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

230 g. strawberries (quartered)
2 bunches rocket (trimmed, washed, dried)
½ cup pecan halves (toasted)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Toss strawberries with 1 tbsp. vinegar in a large bowl.
2. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
3. Whisk other tbsp. of vinegar with olive oil, pepper and salt in other bowl.
4. Add rocket, pecans and dressing to strawberries.
5. Toss and serve.