Why freezing is the simplest way to save a glut

There comes a week in late summer when the orchard decides to empty itself all at once. The plums are weighing down the branches, the blackcurrants need picking before the birds take their share, and the Bramley is dropping fruit faster than you can stew it. This is the moment when freezing earns its place as the most sensible preserving method in the fruit garden. It asks for very little: a bit of freezer space, a few trays, and the patience to let fruit firm up before it goes into bags. No sugar syrup, no sterilised jars, no long afternoon beside a boiling pan.

The real reward comes in January, when you tip a bag of frozen plums into a crumble dish and remember exactly why you planted the tree in the first place. Because the fruit was frozen dry, without sugar, you can bake with it exactly as you would with fresh fruit. You control the sweetness at the point of cooking, which is far better than inheriting a syrup you made months ago when the fruit was at its ripest.

Prepare the fruit for a dry pack

Dry packing is the method that suits crumbles, pies and compotes best. Rinse the fruit, then hull, stone, peel or core as appropriate. Work in small batches so nothing sits around and softens. For most fruits, a light toss in lemon juice is enough to slow browning and keep the colour bright. You do not need to blanch fruit that will be cooked later, though a brief dip in boiling water and a plunge into cold water can help firmer fruits hold their shape.

• Apples and pears: Peel, core and slice or dice. Toss with a little lemon juice to stop the pieces turning brown. Bramleys break down beautifully in a crumble; firmer eaters hold their shape for pies.
• Plums, damsons and greengages: Halve and stone them. Small damsons can be frozen whole, but stoning them now saves fiddly work later.
• Soft fruit: Blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries need only a quick rinse and a pick over for leaves and stalks. Leave them whole.
• Rhubarb: Trim the ends and cut into short lengths. It freezes exceptionally well and needs no preparation beyond that.

Open freezing: spread, freeze, then bag

This is the step that separates a useful freezer stash from a solid block of fruit that has to be hacked apart with a knife. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper or a silicone mat. Spread the prepared fruit in a single layer, leaving a little space between pieces so they do not touch. Slide the tray into the freezer and leave it for two to four hours, until every piece is firm and rattles when you shake the tray.

Once the fruit is frozen solid, tip it into freezer bags or rigid containers. Because each piece is already frozen, they will stay separate in the bag. You can then scoop out a handful for a crumble for two, or the whole bag for a family pudding, without waiting for a solid mass to thaw. This is the single most useful habit in fruit gardening, and it costs nothing but a little forward planning.

Packing, labelling and keeping the quality

Press as much air out of freezer bags as you can before sealing, or use a straw to draw the air out. Leave a small headspace in rigid containers, as fruit expands slightly as it freezes. Label everything with the fruit, the date and the amount. A bag of “plums, August, 1kg” is far more useful in February than a mystery package. Most fruit keeps well for eight to twelve months at a steady temperature of -18°C or below. Use the oldest bags first, and keep a running list on the freezer door so nothing gets forgotten at the bottom.

Baking straight from frozen

You do not need to thaw fruit before baking. Tip it frozen into a buttered dish, sprinkle with sugar to taste, and add a tablespoon or two of cornflour or tapioca for every 500g of fruit. This thickens the juices that will run as the fruit heats through. Add your crumble topping, then bake at around 180°C fan for 45 to 55 minutes, giving it an extra ten minutes or so compared with fresh fruit. The topping should be golden and the juices bubbling at the edges.

For pies, a little thawing helps the fruit settle into the dish, but it is not essential. For compotes and sauces, frozen fruit can go straight into the pan with a splash of water and a little sugar. It will release its juices as it warms, and the result is every bit as good as fresh.

A few fruits to treat gently

Strawberries and raspberries are the tender ones. They freeze well for cooking, but they will collapse when thawed, so treat them as ingredients rather than eating fruit. Spread them on trays in a single layer and handle them as little as possible. For strawberries, hulling them before freezing is fine, but leave raspberries exactly as they are. Slightly underripe fruit freezes better than fruit that is already soft and squishy, so pick a little earlier if you know the freezer is the destination. With a few trays and a little patience, the glut becomes a winter of crumbles, and that is a very good return indeed.