Everyone has opened up their fridge and discovered a carton of berries about to expire. When a berry starts to go bad, the texture gets mushy, but the flavor and sugar intensifies. Use overripe berries to make the tasty and amazing recipes below.
Jams
One of the easiest things to make with overripe fruit is jam. Jams are not hard to cook, and it intensified sweetness of the berry. You made need pectin to give your jam the right texture. Take your berries, smash them up, and put them on the stove. Cook over medium heat to allow the jam to thicken without scorching. Add sugar and cook it until the mixture gels on a metal spoon. Put your jam in a water bath and store your homemade jam in the refrigerator.
Syrup
Syrups and pie fillings are two great ways to cook down berries. Mash up the berries and strain the juice out using cheesecloth. Cook down the juice like you are making a jam, adding sugar if needed. Take a metal spoon and dip it into your syrup. Once the juice runs off the spoon in a solid ribbon, you have syrup. If you like thicker syrups, cook it a little longer.
Pie Fillings
Preserve the quantity of the juice that will cook out of the berries without making jam, you will need a thickener. Corn starch is what is most commonly used to thicken pie fillings, but you could also use agar or arrowroot starch. If the mixture tastes too sweet, add some lemon juice. Mash the berries, but take some of the juice and mix in corn starch. This is called a slurry. Stir your slurry into your berries and start cooking them down. Keep stirring the pie filling while it cooks. Once the berries are cooked and the juice has thickened up, you are ready to fill the pie.
Jelly
Prep your berries just like you are going to make syrup. You will need pectin to get a good jelly. Cook it down and keep testing it until it gels on a metal spoon. Most pectin’s are tart and can change the flavor of the jelly, so don’t be surprised if you need to add extra sugar. Try to cook apple peelings in the jelly. Apple skins has a high pectin content is one of the first sources of pectin that was used in cooking.
Smoothies
Overripe berries can add great flavor and natural sweetness to smoothies. Freeze the berries ahead of time and throw them in the blender as needed.
Protein Popsicles
Give yourself a protein packed frozen treat by making popsicles. Smash up berries, take some vanilla protein powder, and mix it with Greek yogurt. If you don’t have a popsicle mold, ice trays work just fine. Put your mixture in the tray, pop in some sticks and put your protein pops into the freezer. In a few hours you will have a creamy treat that is not just cooling and delicious, but is also healthy for you.
Baked Goods
Baked goods are another great way to incorporate berries. Who can say no to a moist blueberry muffin? Strawberry scones are lovely. Even make a funfetti-inspired cake with berries making the colors instead of food coloring.
Fruit Leather
A great kid-friendly treat is fruit leather. Smash up your fruit, put the mash in a greased pan lined with parchment paper. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can set your oven to “warm” and leave your fruit in there for a couple of hours. Once it has dried to the point where you can cut it into strips and roll it out of the pan, you have made fruit leather. Your candy will need to be kept dry and cool. It will last about a week.
Chutney
Chutneys and salsas are very similar. A chutney is a cooked, sweet fruit sauce with spice added that will often have Indian flavor influences. You basically make a jam, add some spicy cayenne with a little turmeric, allspice, and salt, then you have chutney.
Salsa
A salsa is not cooked as much as a chutney. Focus on tart, fresh, spicy ingredients along with cooling herbs. Some salsas are not cooked at all. Chop up your fruit, some jalapeno peppers, and cucumber; then add lime, salt, and cilantro.
