Freezing Fruit Salad

Freezing fruit is a wonderful way to preserve it for colder months. Fruit salad allows several fruits to be frozen at once and fruit retains its color and flavor best when covered in light syrup.

Fruit Salad Recipe

• Fruit (any variety)
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar
• 5 cups orange juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Combine lemon juice, sugar, and orange juice in a sauce pan. Cook the mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow the syrup to cool. For a healthier fruit salad, brown sugar can be used.
2. Wash the fruit and chop it into small bite size pieces.
3. Place the fruit in freezer safe containers. Ladle the syrup over the fruit until it is completely covered, leaving at least 1/2 an inch of head space in the top of the container for expansion after freezing.
4. Label each container, "fruit salad," and place the date on the freezer container. Fruit salad is best if it is used within 4 months of freezing.
5. To thaw fruit salad, place the fruit salad in a refrigerator, or thaw in cold water (never hot).

Tips for Freezing Fruit Salad

To prevent freezer burn, use quality freezer containers for freezing the fruit salad. Vacuum packed foods will often last 3 times longer than foods frozen without vacuum packing. A common problem encountered when freezing fruit salad is the formation of ice crystals. If this occurs, speeding up the freezing process will prevent ice crystals from forming. Turn the freezer temperature down during the first few hours of freezing, to 0 degrees F, and then turn the freezer back up to its normal temperature.

Fruit Salad Serving Ideas

Fruit salad can be served alone, on top of yogurt, or adorned in nuts or marshmallows. It can be placed on a lettuce leaf with graham crackers or vanilla wafers on the side. For finicky eaters, puree the fruit salad in a blender for a quick and easy fruit smoothie.