Fresh Fruit Salad Recipes

Don't mix more than four types of fruit, or you'll find that the different flavours and textures get lost.

Choose a mixture of textures, like crisp cubes of apple or pear partnered with soft mango or fresh raspberries.

Use contrasting flavours, such as sweet melon with sharp orange or pineapple. Or match colours, using all red fruits like strawberries, raspberries or loganberries, or orange-fleshed fruits such as peach, apricot, oranges, ogen melon.

Another simple idea for a delectable fresh fruit salad is to use different types of the same fruit. Melon works well here, with cubes of watermelon, honeydew, charentais, or ogen in pear nectar. Berries are another great choice. Think raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries in orange juice or raspberry juice.

When it comes to the liquid part of your fruit salad recipes, you could use a sugar syrup as a base, but it's not the healthiest option, although some of the sharper fruits, like blackcurrants, do need sweetening to make them palatable.

A healthier idea is to use fresh fruit juice or nectar, either one variety or a blend. You can water it down to taste if the flavour is too dominant. Another alternative is to add canned fruit in natural juice to a selection of fresh fruits.

FRUIT SALAD RECIPES - SUMMER FRUIT SALAD

This recipe needs sugar, because gooseberries and currants are generally too sharp to enjoy without sweetening.

Ingredients
450g (1 lb/2-3 cups) gooseberries
100-175g (4-6 oz/1-2 cups) red or blackcurrants
175g (6 oz/three-quarters cup) caster (superfine granulated) sugar
100-175g (4-6 oz/1-2 cups) fresh raspberries

Serves 4-6

1. Prepare gooseberries and currants, rinse well, place in a saucepan.
2. Add sugar, heat gently to allow the juice to run.
3. Very slowly, bring up to a boil. If you boil the fruit too quickly it will turn mushy.
4. Shake the pan gently now and again, to mix the sugar through the fruit.
5. Simmer very gently for 5 mins.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the raspberries.
7. Leave to cool and chill to serve.

FRUIT SALAD RECIPES - MIXED FRUIT SALAD

Ingredients
2 sweet dessert apples
2 ripe dessert pears
2 ripe peaches
4 dessert plums
225g (8 oz/one and one-third cups) seedless green or black grapes
150ml (1/4 pint/two-thirds cup) fresh orange or pear juice

Serves 6

1. Pour the juice into a serving bowl.
2. Wash the fruit. You can peel the apples and pears, or leave the skins on, as you wish.
3. Cut the apples into cubes. Slice the pears, removing the core. Add both to the juice.
4. Fill a bowl with boiling water, plunge the peaches in and leave for 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and peel off the skins. Cut the flesh into cubes. Add to bowl.
5. Cut the plums in half, remove the stones and slice the fruit. Add to bowl.
6. Mix thoroughly and chill before serving.

FRUIT SALAD RECIPES - FRESH FRUIT DELIGHT

1. To serve 6, put together around 1 kg/2 lb fresh mixed fruits - pick your favourites from apples, pears, kiwis, peaches, cherries, melon, mango or anything you have in your fruit bowl.
2. Be careful if you choose banana, it turns brown and slimy quite quickly when soaked in liquid, so slice and add to your fresh fruit salad just before serving.
3. Prepare all the fruits and place in a bowl. Pour over enough fruit juice or nectar of your choice to moisten well. Don't add too much, you don't want to swamp the fruits.
4. Chill to serve. To make it extra pretty, sprinkle over finely chopped fresh mint to serve, or decorate with edible nasturtium flowers.