Whether you want to get ahead by having dessert in the freezer, turn flowers and herbs into decorative ice cubes or making the most of frozen ingredients, these recipes are all great ideas for making your freezer a powerful helping hand for festive gatherings.
No-waste ice cubes
Pretty ice cubes using berries, edible flowers and mint leaves make wonderful additions to summer drinks. "They look lovely in a jug of water or a glass of freshly squeezed juice. Fruit that’s a little past its use-by date is perfectly blitzed in a food processor, frozen in ice-cube trays and then used in a glass of soda water for some extra flavour," says Rebecca Sullivan. You can also use her idea with coffee: "If you have any leftover coffee in your cafetière, pour it into an ice-cube tray and freeze. Simply pop out the cubes into a tall glass with milk for an iced coffee – perfect for a summer’s day." See the full for more ideas.
Flower and berry ice-cubes Source: The Art of The Natural Home
Frozen coriander and lime margarita or sorbet
No frozen drink maker is required for these - the coriander and lime sorbet sets in the freezer. You can then serve shaved sorbet topped with tequila (or blend the frozen cubes with tequila). Or skip the alcohol for a refreshing palate cleanser.
Coriander and lime frozen margarita Source: The Cook Up
Vodka slushies
Jan Fran shared this recipe on The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, and it's a super easy way to make a refreshing cocktail for summer entertaining: just blitz frozen berries and frozen mango with vodka and ice, and top with more frozen mango puree. (Or for a striking red version, made with sparkling wine, try this ).
Source: Adam Liaw
Great greens blender soup
"I love a good blender soup. Especially when it's also the world’s quickest and easiest freezer fix. This soup uses frozen peas and frozen spinach, and shows your freezer staples can make delicious meals," says Mary Berg of her striking green soup, which would make a great starter for a summer gathering.
Great greens blender soup Source: Mary Makes It Easy
Deep dish spanakopita
This version of the classic Greek cheese and spinach pie uses frozen spinach. This deep-dish pie, with its crisp golden pastry and salty-creamy-greens filling (there's dill and parsley in there, too) serves 6-8, so it would be great for a gathering (and since it can be served warm or cold, it's a good option for a festive picnic, too). If you've got fresh spinach on hand, you could try the ; or try an Australian spin on this , which uses warrigal greens instead of spinach, and is seasoned with saltbush and spearmint.
Deep dish spanakopita Source: Mary Makes It Easy
Potato nugget eggs benny
Turn frozen potato nuggets into a golden, crisp, crunchy base for eggs, smoked salmon and an easy hollandaise sauce for a great festive breakfast or brunch idea.
Potato nugget eggs benny Source: Mary Makes It Easy
Freezer condiments
Get ahead by making freezer-friendly chutneys and the like. Adam Liaw's ("my take on the classic English condiment. My version uses black garlic, which is a rich, fermented garlic, and anchovies") lasts well in the freezer and is great with steak. can be frozen for months, with fresh herbs and onion stirred through the defrosted salsa before serving. This vibrant, made with coriander, mint, chillies and pistachios, can be stored in the fridge, or frozen for up to a month.
Tangy herb chutney Source: Anjum’s Australian Spice Stories
Frozen summer fruit semifreddo pudding
Italian semifreddo meets the classic traditional fruit pudding in this fruity frozen pud, which features mangoes, passionfruit and peaches. It's a lovely make-ahead dessert as it can sit overnight in the freezer; then just decorate with pomegranate seeds, passionfruit and raspberries (or whatever seasonal fruit you like) and toasted hazelnuts to serve.
Frozen summer semifreddo pudding Source: China Squirrel
Frozen passionfruit pavlova
This puts a different spin on an Australian favourite and it's simple to do: smash up your meringues or a store-bought pavlova and mix it up with passionfruit curd and a cream mixture, freeze and four hours later you have an easy dessert for any occasion.
Frozen passionfruit pavlova Source: Petrina Tinslay
Jamie's squodgy croissant loaf
We love this idea from Jamie Oliver, and it would be perfect for a festive breakfast or brunch: a one-pan bake that pairs 'ready-to-bake' frozen croissants with chocolate, orange zest, crushed hazelnuts and apricot jam.
Jamie's squodgy croissant loaf Source: Penguin Random House / © David Loftus
Instant ice-cream
Whether you're after a vegan alternative to ice cream, or you just love the idea of a cool banana-coconut dessert, this super-fast recipe will do the trick. Freeze fruit and coconut milk, then blitz in a food processor for a few minutes, until it whips up into a light, fluffy dessert. It is best eaten straight away but can be frozen once made.
Instant ice-cream Source: Clare Winfield
Freezer biscuits
Keep dough, or pre-shaped biscuits, in the freezer and you can easily cook up a batch of biscuits to share with guests or give as an edible gift. As Anneka Manning explains in , low moisture, high butter biscuits such as shortbread are a good choice for freezing the dough and baking straight from the freezer (try Manning's ). Some others that work for the freeze-and-bake method include , , or . You can also put the freezer to good use with - the undecorated cookies can be frozen for up to three months, so you can make special occasion cookies well in advance and decorate them when needed.
Find more ideas in our and the .
Chocolate pecan slice and bake cookies Source: Mary Makes It Easy
