Avoid Frozen Clumps Of Berries With This Martha Stewart Method

Have you ever noticed how berries, when frozen together in a batch, turn into a single, giant, icy blob? That may be fine if your goal is making jam or pureed fruit sauces — but not so much if you'd like those plump wonders to retain their natural form. Fortunately, there's a method to fix frozen-berry madness, one touted by none other than Martha Stewart, the decades-long lifestyle guru and kitchen queen. It's quite simple and only takes a couple of extra steps: Flash freeze the berries and then transfer them later for long-term freezer storage.

The crucial part of flash-freezing berries is to spread them out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in a single layer. It's important that the berries are spaced out without touching one another. As usual when freezing any type of fruit, use the freshest berries available, and wash and dry thoroughly to remove debris and reduce moisture, which could alter the texture and make them mushy. Allow them to freeze solid, which could take three hours, or more or less depending on berry size and freezer temperature. 

Once frozen, scoop up those little lovelies and place in an air-tight freezer bag or suitable container. Then you're free to pick and choose the amount of berries needed for future cooking projects — or for snacking, a handful at a time. Frozen berries make nutritious, delicious, pop-in-your-mouth bites for any time your body craves them. Just be aware that, when thawed, frozen berries are unlikely to retain their original fresh-fruit texture. 

Now that you have a bounty of frozen berries, use them as a starting point for a plethora of drinks, desserts, sauces, toppings, and anything else you can imagine. Smoothies are an obvious choice, with no need to thaw them ahead of time — just toss in a blender and let it work its magic. Add some ice if you'd like a slushy-style granita drink or icy sorbet dessert. They also make the freshest fruity cocktails or mocktails, eliminating the need for fruit-flavored syrups. Since you wisely took Martha's advice and flash-froze the berries separately on a baking sheet, you can reach for just the amount you need per cocktail or smoothie.

When you've got baking on you mind, most any type of frozen berry will elevate fruit pies, muffins, and scones to next-level goodness. You don't even need to defrost them first, as oven heat will naturally take care of that step. Just fold them into the batter and bake as usual. And here's one of the best ideas I personally discovered this year: Making fruit jam in the microwave using, you guessed it, frozen berries. Since they've been frozen individually instead of in a clump, it's easy to measure the called-for amount of berries into a container, add the sugar and lemon juice, and scoop out fresh homemade jam in roughly 10 minutes, depending on the wattage of your microwave oven.