The loveFOOD guide to... berries

The reds and purples of a handful of berries herald the start of summer fruits. Here’s our guide to the best.

Strawberries

Once had a season that lasted the length of Wimbledon fortnight but now seem to be in the shops nearly all year round. Still, midsummer remains the best time to eat them, and always at room temperature so you can appreciate their flavour, never cold from the fridge. As strawberries have their many seeds on the outside, they’re not technically a berry. We still love them though, and have plenty of recipes that use them.

Top 10 strawberry recipes

Blackberries

Ready in late summer and autumn, wild versions are small little things with a nice sharp flavour while commercially grown versions are huge plump things and are much sweeter. Like all berries they’re best eaten at room temperature. They also freeze well, and a handful can be pulled from the freezer and flung into a crumble, smoothie, or a bowl of cereal. The sharpness of the small wild versions is often paired with fatty meats like duck.

Duck breast with blackberry sauce recipe

Raspberries

Sweet and sharp in the same mouthful. Like strawberries can be made into jam, as well as the classic British summer pudding – Eton Mess. They’re pretty easy to grow if you have a sunny spot. Once off the plant, they don’t last for long, so either use as soon as you get them, or freeze.

Chocolate and raspberry cheesecake brownies recipe

Blueberries

A superfood native to North America (and related to cranberries) that’s often used in desserts, muffins and cheesecakes, though they do have savoury uses too. Interestingly the first blueberries grown in the UK were a gift from Canada planted in Dorset in 1949.

Eric Lanlard's baked blueberry cheesecake recipe

Cranberries

Though we’ve taken the blueberry to heart, we’ve yet to do the same for its cousin the cranberry. They’re not as juicy as blueberries, and need heat and sugar to get rid of that lip-smacking acidity. The juice is mainly used in Cosmopolitan cocktails (as made famous by Sex in the City). At Christmas you may see fresh ones in the shops allowing you to make your own cranberry sauce, though they can also be used in chutneys.

Cranberry cupcakes recipe

Gooseberries

Perhaps a little old-fashioned and no longer all that popular, but gooseberries are still lovely in fools and crumbles. Though better known for inclusion in desserts, Darrin Hosegrove suggests making them into a purée to serve beside grilled herring.

Eton 'Tidy' with elderflower jelly and stewed gooseberries recipe

Blackcurrants

Blackcurrants are good for use in cheesecakes, summer pudding and other fruit-based dishes. They're also used to make fruity cordials and can be used sparingly in fruit salads to add a little tartness to sit alongside sweeter fruits like mango or pineapple.

Blackcurrant and rosemary cheesecake recipe

Redcurrants

Redcurrant jelly is delicious with turkey and brie in a sandwich, or with freshly carved slices of roast lamb. Redcurrants can also be served raw as a garnish for salads or drinks.

Redcurrant-soaked strawberries and cracked black pepper biscuits recipe

Loganberry

What do you get when you cross a raspberry with a blackberry? There's no witty punchline, just the loganberry, which was created by accident by, and named for, American judge and horticulturalist James H Logan. In most recipes you can interchange raspberries or blackberries for loganberries. They're quite hard to find in berry form in the UK, although you could grow your own.

Boysenberry

It just gets weirder. Boysenberries are a cross between a raspberry, a blackberry, a dewberry and a loganberry. Mostly included here as a point of interest, as you'd be very hard pressed to find these in Britain, although again you can grow your own if you fancy.

Goji berries

Hailed for their nutritional value in recent years, dried goji berries can now be sourced without much difficulty in the UK. Traditionally they're used in East Asia added to congee, which is a type of watery porridge, although they can be eaten dried too.

Mango chilli smoothie with goji berries recipe

Grape

Yes, they are berries (technically, so are tomatoes and bananas!). Grapes have a myriad uses for wine makers, and are popular as a healthy snack. They can also be used to make juice, jellies, grapeseed oil and raisins.

Caramelised veggies and sausages recipe