Fruit

10 sweet raspberry recipes

Summer raspberries are at their juicy best from June, with autumn varieties ripening into September. These bite-sized berries are the perfect combination of sweet and tart, and there are so many ways to celebrate them.

How to use up soft and stone fruit

Some of these fruits can be found in supermarkets, or you can grab a bag and get picking from hedgerows (just make sure you leave some for wildlife) or visit your local fruit farm, which makes for a fun autumnal activity!

10 tasty rhubarb recipes

Although Rhubarb is technically classed as a vegetable, it's commonly treated like a fruit, cooked with sugar to balance its acidity and used in delicious desserts. But, it can also be a total game-changer in savoury dishes and goes beautifully with roast pork, lamb and duck, as well as oily fish like salmon. When buying rhubarb, forced rhubarb is usually pink in colour, while later varieties are redder. Choose firm stalks and store in the fridge for best results.

Perfect fruit & cheese pairings

It’s all about those complementary flavours and textures – think delicate slices of pear with punchy Stilton or buttery Brie, red grapes with rich Camembert, or ripe tomatoes with creamy mozzarella. Fresh watermelon pairs perfectly with salty feta, grilled peaches are fantastic alongside halloumi or burrata, and crisp apples are great with a mature Cheddar.

Amazing apple recipes

From comforting crumbles, pies and bakes to tangy chutneys and perfect sauces for your Sunday roast, there’s so much you can do with this versatile fruit. Here in the UK, apples are ripe for the picking from September to February, so make the most of the seasonal bounty with our amazing apple recipes.

Easy pear recipes

So whether you’ve got a pear tree that keeps on giving or just love eating the seasons, we’ve got all the easy peasy pear recipes you could need right here.

Perfect plum recipes

Here in the UK, plums are typically in season from August to early October. You can tell they’re ripe by giving them a gentle squeeze – if they’re slightly soft, you’re good to go. This wonderfully versatile fruit is fantastic eaten raw, cooked in crumbles and pies, transformed into sorbets and chutneys, or even paired with duck and pork. Here’s the very best of our plum-packed recipes.

Fantastic fig recipes

Typically in season from mid-August to November in the UK, you can tell these succulent little fruits are ready by giving them a gentle squeeze; if they feel slightly soft, they’re ripe for the picking! With a naturally high sugar content, figs pair beautifully with salty, savoury foods, such as prosciutto or Parma ham – the iconic Italian combo. You can also celebrate their natural sweetness in desserts, cakes and tarts, or simply quartered and served with yoghurt and granola for breakfast.

6 cracking kimchi recipes

What’s more, it’s good for your gut! Just like these kimchi recipes, when the cabbage is mixed with salt, it starts off the lacto-fermentation process, where naturally occurring bacteria convert the vegetable sugars into lactic acid, a natural preservative. And, as beneficial bacteria thrive, eating it aids digestion.

Cheerful cherry recipes

Cherry season in the UK typically lasts from mid-June to mid-September, so freeze the ripest berries ahead of the colder months for next-level winter crumbles. Paired with rich chocolate or roasted pork chops, there’s so much you can do with this versatile fruit. Here are our cherry-picked recipes for you to enjoy all year round.

Cooking Buddies: Kitchen hacks with Buddy

Before you start, a simple trick to stop your chopping board moving around is to pop a damp tea towel underneath it. Genius!

Buddy’s spooky snack ideas

APPLE MONSTERS

Easy summer berry recipes

We’ve chosen 6 of our favourite summer pud recipes where you can swap in a whole range of beautiful berries, including twists on some classics, a smashing 5-ingredient pud and an impressive centrepiece that’s perfect whatever the occasion...

Easy frozen yoghurt recipes to make at home

We’ve got two basic recipes for you to choose from, plus more ideas for flavour combos, so you can mix and match the ingredients with whatever you’ve got. Look out for unsweetened cones to serve it in, too.

How to cut a pineapple

Use your senses to pick a perfectly ripe pineapple. First smell the outside – it should smell sweet without any hint of sourness or grassiness. The skin and leaves should have some shine to them and the pineapple should feel firm but not hard.

How to cut and slice a mango

Mangos are high in vitamin C, which has lots of benefits, including keeping our immune system in tip-top condition to help us fight illness. Just two slices (about 5cm wide) count as one portion of your 5-a-day, making them a great addition to a healthy, balanced diet.

6 brilliant recipes to get kids cooking!

Salad recipes with a difference

Using fruit in these salad recipes is a fast-track to fresh, juicy, colourful results. Enjoy!

Our favourite banana bread recipes

Although banana bread is a good way to use up overripe bananas, you don’t have to wait until they go brown to get your bake on. If you’ve got firmer bananas, simply pop them in a low oven (no need to peel) until the skins are brown all over. Leave to cool a little, then peel and mash away! Short of eggs? Need an easy recipe for the kids? Or you want a fancy loaf for the weekend? We’ve picked our favourite banana bread recipes for you to have a go at.

Summer recipes for Wimbledon

Strawberries

Easy recipes for kids

These easy recipes are a brilliant way to give kids responsibility in the kitchen, and help them feel comfortable prepping, stirring and mixing.

Fruit recipes the kids will love

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Frozen favourites: freezing fruit

To make the most of what you've got, all you need is a freezer. As soon as you realise you're not going to use an item of fruit, chop it up, bag it up and freeze it. Peel and chop bananas, core and slice apples and pears, hull strawberries, destone and chop plums, mangoes and other stone fruit. Pop them in sealable sandwich bags, in whatever combination you like, and place them in the freezer ready to use when you fancy. Here are some simple ideas to show you what to do next.

Is it a melon? Is it a pear? No, it’s a melon pear!

Three weeks ago I cleared the tomatoes and the other fading summer crops from the polytunnel. They’ve been replaced with hardy salads for harvesting between now and spring. Two plants were granted a stay of execution but only because their handsomely striped heart-shaped fruits were still in the process of ripening. In its native South America this fruit is called

Healthy breakfasts for kids

The first meal that my little boy (now six) was able to make himself was scrambled eggs - made in a cup and finished off with my help in the microwave! He was about three years old at the time and was fascinated with cracking eggs into a bowl, pouring them into a cup and then cooking them. Despite the fact that he actually only needed two items, an egg and a cup, he would take out almost every single kitchen utensil he could get his hands on and all the pots and pans. I was always very careful to watch him and help him, especially when we graduated to the stove, but within the boundaries we set I was keen to allow him to experiment as much as possible. It’s great to see him as keen to help out today as he was as a toddler – and his favourite dish by far to make is still our scrambled eggs!

Fruity bakes

One of the first recipes I ever made at school during a home economics class was a pineapple upside-down cake – sticky and sweet, and studded with bright red (tinned!) cherries. For a fruity after-school treat these days, I’m more likely to mash up some over-ripe bananas to make banana bread for the kids. It’s our favourite fruity bake of all.

My first recipe: banana cake

It’s for a banana & walnut cake, which, given the state of the paper, I must have baked many times growing up. I’m sure my Mum was sick of it, but she didn’t have the heart to tell me; instead she encouraged me to get in the kitchen and get involved, even if that did result in a lot of mess!

Simple sugar-free strawberry lemonade

On a hot summer’s day there is nothing more reviving than fresh homemade lemonade, and because this strawberry lemonade recipe does not contain any sugar it’s the optimal low-glycemic sweet summer drink.

What to do with festive fruit

Fruit often gets side-lined as more indulgent treats claim the festive spotlight. They’re good value at markets though, and always on offer in the supermarket at this time of year, so stock up and put them to good use…

Fruit: eat the rainbow

Fruit can be a snack, a dessert, take the starring role in salad, flavour drinks, be used to make meats sing and so much more besides.

The keys to a healthy breakfast

As a child my granny always used to make me porridge for breakfast, and this is a routine I took to university with me and eventually on into adult life. It fits the perfect breakfast mould of being cheap, filling, healthy and delicious, and is a great way to warm up on winter mornings. Oats are a great source of fibre and also have a low GI, which means porridge keeps you fuelled until lunch. In summer I switch to a lovely

How to buy, store & use avocado

Their versatility in the kitchen makes avocados a popular choice for any diet and some even go as far as labelling them a super food. I label them as delicious and enjoy them in moderation!

Why local fruit is the best fruit

From the vivid red strawberries that signal the approach of sunnier days and the dusky-orange apricots that are rich-picking throughout the summer, through to early autumn’s harvest of luscious figs and blackberries, these sticky, ripe treats taste all the sweeter thanks to having been grown close to home.

How to grow rhubarb

Several species of

Father’s Day with the Olivers

In a conversation with

Healthy party food for kids

Party food for kids can be colourful, exciting, and healthy, but sadly kids’ parties have become synonymous with sugary foods that are loaded with saturated fats. However, these great ideas will help you avoid the junk, and make kids’ parties healthier, more special, colourful, and fun – all with minimum fuss.