Simple tips and suggestions for using Creative Gourmet frozen berries and fruits   All Creative Gourmet frozen berries and fruits are ideal for gently poaching or microwaving until just tender and warmed through. Sweeten with caster sugar, icing sugar, honey or a sweetener to taste. Store in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 4 days. Serve for breakfast or dessert, or spoon over cakes, cheesecakes and ice-cream. Mixed Berries A very versatile and juicy mixture of berries (including raspberries, blackberries, wild blueberries, redcurrants and black currants) and slightly tart in flavour. Sweeten to taste or team Mixed Berries with sweet ingredients to enhance their natural flavours. Perfect for poaching and microwaving with a sprinkling of caster sugar. Ideal with cereal or yoghurt for breakfast or serve simply with ice-cream for dessert. Excellent in sweet trifles, cakes and muffins, puddings, tiramisu and cheesecakes. Team with Creative Gourmet French Style Crepes and Creative Gourmet Flavoured Pancakes. Great for jams.   Raspberries Plump deep-pink raspberries are one of the sweetest and most versatile berries of all. As they are very delicate and take little time to defrost, use frozen raspberries straight from the freezer for most recipes. Perfect for smoothies, cocktails and iced drinks. Just defrost or poach and stir through Bircher Museli or use as a cereal topper. Great for muffins, friands, cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, puddings, tiramisu, trifles, semi-freddo and ice-creams. Sprinkle frozen raspberries over a pavlova and cream just before serving. Team with Creative Gourmet French Style Crepes and Creative Gourmet Flavoured pPancakes. Swirl through sweetened mascarpone, ricotta or whipped cream. Good for jams.   Blueberries Versatile blueberries can be used for all sorts of drinks and desserts. Quick to defrost, sprinkle on breakfast cereal or porridge. Add to a milkshake or smoothie or blend with your favourite fruit juice. Excellent for muffins, friands, cheesecakes, puddings, crumbles and trifles. Team with Creative Gourmet French Style Crepes and Creative Gourmet Flavoured Pancakes. Good for sauces and jams. Great for a sweet snack straight from the freezer on a hot day.   Summer Fruits A sweet, juicy combination of boysenberries, raspberries, cherries and strawberries, Summer Fruits are perfect for poaching and microwaving. Because it’s a very juicy mixture, if baking with Summer Fruits the mixture will be very moist so allow for this in recipes. Blend with apple juice (or your favourite fruit juice) to make a non-dairy smoothie. Gently poach or microwave with a sprinkling of sugar and serve over chocolate cake, ice-cream, waffles, breakfast cereals or yoghurt. Excellent for trifles, summer pudding and jams. Serve frozen for a healthy snack for kids in hot weather.   Forest Fruits A delicious mixture of Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries and Cherries, Forest Fruits is a favourite for baking, poaching and microwaving. It goes will with sweet ingredients which enhances the natural flavours. If using Forest Fruits for baking in muffins or cakes, you may have to cut some of the larger strawberries in half before adding to the mixture. Poach, bake or microwave and use to top breakfast cereals, porridge or yoghurt and serve for dessert. A top mixture for smoothies and iced drinks. Excellent for crumbles, pies and baked puddings. Good for muffins, cheesecakes, trifles and sundaes. Team with pavlova or serve with chocolate cake and pudding.   Strawberries Creative Gourmet frozen Strawberries are excellent for smoothies, drinks, sauces and baking. Once defrosted, these berries quickly soften and lose their shape so they’re best not used as a garnish, they’re better when incorporated in a dish like a summer pudding, tiramisu, cheesecake or dessert. Or simply poached and used as a topping. If blending in smoothies and drinks, as they’re very firm it’s best to defrost frozen strawberries for 15-20 minutes prior to adding to your blender. Pop frozen strawberries into glasses or champagne or sparkling wine to serve. Add frozen strawberries to punches or blend in smoothies, drinks and cocktails. Excellent for sweet sauces or puree with a little sugar and serve over ice-cream, chocolate cake and cheesecakes. Semi-defrost and serve as a healthy snack for kids. Warm in a pan and team with Creative Gourmet French Style Crepes, Creative Gourmet frozen Flavoured Pancakes or toasted waffles.   High Antioxidant Berry Mix Loaded with beneficial antioxidants (this mix has four times the level of antioxidants in blueberries) this sharp flavoured mixture of blackcurrants, bilberries and wild blueberries is ideal for a healthy breakfast. Team with yoghurt, milk and honey in smoothies, or simply blend with apple or apple and pear juice. Swirl through berry yoghurt with a few chopped almonds. Defrost and sprinkle over muesli or porridge, or swirl through Bircher muesli and leave to soak overnight.   Pitted Cherries No-fuss pitted cherries are sweet, plump and ready to eat. Due to their high sugar content, the cherries do not freeze really firm so once removed from the freezer they can be eaten within minutes. If using for baking, add straight from your freezer. If chopped cherries are required for the recipe, use scissors to easily snip the cherries in half. Gently warm in a pan and serve with ice-cream and waffles. Add frozen to cake mixtures, cheesecakes, puddings and pies. Defrost for a few minutes and enjoy as a sweet snack straight from the freezer. Drizzle with melted chocolate or add to chocolate cakes and puddings. Excellent for crumbles and sauces.   Rhubarb Cuts Trimmed, sliced and ready to cook, Creative Gourmet frozen Rhubarb Cuts are very easy to cook. Do not defrost prior to cooking. Gently poach, bake or microwave and add sugar, honey or a sweetener to taste. One 500g box Rhubarb Cuts will require about 1/3 cup caster sugar (or equivalent) to sweeten however this depends on personal taste. Poach or microwave and serve for breakfast or dessert. If cooking in advance, simply store in an airtight container in the fridge so it’s ready for eat. Cook Rhubarb Cuts with Creative Gourmet frozen Strawberries. Excellent teamed with apple in a crumble or pie. Add frozen rhubarb to cake mixtures. Excellent poached in orange juice until just tender, and served with custard or ice-cream.   Cranberries Bright pink cranberries team brilliantly with turkey, ham and pork at Christmas. Do not defrost prior to cooking. Gently cook frozen cranberries until tender sweetening with sugar at the end of cooking (this helps prevent their skin from becoming tough). Use them to make home-made Cranberry Sauce – a Christmas essential! Add cranberries to pies, tarts and puddings. Use them for cocktails.