Spring fruits in the UK

The best UK spring fruits in the UK are:

• Strawberries
• Apricots
• Cherries
• Rhubarb
• Anna apples

Now let’s find out more about them and the dishes they work best in...

Strawberries

Juicy red strawberries might be associated with summer and occasions like Wimbledon, but many strawberries come into season in spring.

In fact, strawberries are frequently picked before they are quite ripe with the intention of ripening on the trip from supplier to consumer.

A widely grown hybrid species (from the genus Fragaria), strawberries are cultivated globally but known as the quintessential English fruit. They are best grown in raised beds, using fertile and slightly acidic soil that has been well drained, and are usually picked between May and July.

How to serve strawberries

Strawberries and cream is a famous British dish, and the fruit is also an ingredient in traditional British puddings like Eton Mess and strawberry fool. Strawberries are a star attraction in fruit salads, and even savoury salads alongside spinach and balsamic vinegar (which pairs well with the sweetness of strawberries).

Strawberries and cream cheese on toast is a creative, strawberry-based breakfast, while the fruit can also be mixed into muesli or oats. A single or half strawberry is a popular garnish for champagne or prosecco, and during the summer it is served in Pimms.

Apricots

Apricots are a small, pitted fruit that come from the apricot tree. A source of beta carotene, and rich in vitamins A and C, apricots have a relatively deep flavour with elements of both tartness and sweetness. In Britain apricots are one of the early fruits, and in season from May (through till September), and when ready to eat they are a rich, yellow-orange colour with smooth and unblemished skin.

How to serve apricots

Apricots can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. Apricot-based desserts include apricot tart, apricot cobbler and fruit cake. Apricots can be used for stuffing (particularly stuffing used for game birds such as guinea fowl), made into jam or chutney, and are a popular ingredient in Middle Eastern and North African dishes such as chicken and apricot stew, and tagine. Apricots are also often dried and eaten as a snack alongside nuts, or mixed into muesli.

Cherries

Antioxidant packed cherries are the fruit from the cherry tree, of which there are many types (the two main types are Prunus cerasus which produces sour cherries, and Prunus avium, which produces the more commonly sold sweet cherries).

Originally native to Western Asia and Eastern Europe, cherries are now grown widely in the UK, being particularly suited to the climate of South and Central England and deep, well-drained soil (if the soil is not well-drained the cherry tree root is prone to rotting).

Cherry season runs from April to July, with sweet cherries tending to be harvested earlier and sour cherries later.

How to serve cherries

Cherries are a hugely versatile fruit - they can be soaked in brandy and used as an ice cream or dessert topping, mixed into muesli or other breakfast cereals, cooked down into a sauce used to glaze meat, blitzed into a juice or blended and added to smoothies and milkshakes or ice cream, as the main ingredient in a pie, tart or cobbler, and as an ingredient in cakes and gateaux.

Rhubarb

Though technically a vegetable, the stalk of the perennial herb rheum rhabarbarum, throughout winter and early spring rhubarb is the closest thing to fresh fruit grown in England and is generally used in the same way as fruit when cooking and consuming.

Known for its tart, sour flavour and vibrant pink-red hue, early varieties of rhubarb can be harvested from March (with cultivated or forced rhubarb being harvested even earlier) with most harvested in May or June, and typically no later than that to prevent weakening the plant. Loamy, acidic soils with a high water retention are best for growing rhubarb, but the soil also should not be water-logged.

How to serve rhubarb

The two main dishes associated with rhubarb are the desserts rhubarb crumble and rhubarb and custard. Rhubarb tastes great after stewing, and can be chopped up and added to scones and traybakes. Rhubarb gin has also seen a boom in popularity over the past couple of years.

Anna apples

Most apples come into season in the late summer and early autumn, but a few varieties are ripe earlier, one such type being the Anna apple, which is of Israeli origin and can be eaten and used from June.

A Golden Delicious-style apple, the Anna apple has pale flesh and a light green-yellow skin, often with a rosy blush. It has a simultaneously sweet and tart taste, with a certain bite.

How to serve Anna apples

Anna apples can be eaten fresh (alone or sliced into a salad), but they also work really well cooked or stewed and used to make pies and tarts, apple crisp and added to pancakes. Anna apples are also a great choice for making applesauce, which is frequently used in vegan recipes for baked goods in place of Eggs.