Frozen Fruit: The French Alternative
How do Teddy Bears survive the summer without air conditioning? Frozen fruits snacks are the ideal thing for a Teddy Bear's picnic to keep the cool.
Frozen fruit
Frozen strawberries, oranges, grapes, kiwi fruit or watermelon are perfect cool treats for summer. The trick with frozen oranges is to cut the top off before you freeze them, so the top lifts off like a lid and you can eat the flesh with a spoon, a sort of instant sorbet. With frozen grapes, simply peel back the skin, and there is the frozen flesh just melting on your tongue. Bung some strawberries in the freezer (but make sure they are dark red and extremely ripe or they'll be insipid). Or cut the top off a kiwi fruit, so the frozen fruit inside can be eaten like a green boiled egg (don't forget the egg cups).
Choc-top bananas
If you want true decadence, peel a banana carefully. Keep the peel. Brush the banana with lemon juice (so it doesn't go brown) and melt some chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler or even on a plate over a saucepan of simmering water. Any chocolate will do, but good dark cooking chocolate is best. Dip the top of the banana in the chocolate, then roll it in crushed nuts. Leave to set for half an hour then carefully replace the fruit in the banana peel and freeze. (If the banana is now too big for its peel (which happens if you're generous with the chocolate and the nuts), wrap it in aluminum foil.
Choc dips
Strawberries can be dipped in chocolate, too, before they are frozen. Slices of really ripe pineapple can also be dipped in chocolate. Just dip one half so that the other half can be easily grabbed by small fingers without getting brown smears everywhere.
Perfect picnics
Frozen fruit keeps reasonably well. If you decide to have your own teddy bear's picnic, place a few frozen 'bricks' in the esky, and wrap each piece of fruit in aluminum foil before freezing the night before. (The foil helps insulate the fruit and prevents the fruit semi-melting and refreezing together in one horrible glob.) Take out everything just before you leave and, with luck and good management, it should still be frozen a couple of hours later. Remember, the more frozen fruit you take, the longer it will all keep cold. A few pieces thaw much faster than 50, which is a great excuse for pigging out. Or just have the picnic at home, under the pergola or on the back steps, which is a great place to contemplate the world.
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