Fruit (View Vegetables)

Apricot

Apricots are plump and juicy with fairly firm skin when at their best. The apricot has a delicate aroma and is an excellent source of Vitamins A and C. Very firm apricots will ripen at room temperature. Apricots can be sliced or halved and frozen in syrup. They are also great for making brandy or wine. They are delicious eaten whole and fresh, with flavours ranging from tart to sweet.

Substitutes

• Peach
• Nectarine

Cherry

There are two general varieties of cherries: sweet and sour. Usually eaten out of hand, sweet cherries are larger than sour cherries. Normally too tart to eat raw, sour cherries are smaller than their sweet cousins, with softer flesh and are used in pies, preserves, and sauces, and tarts.

Substitutes

• Other Stone Fruit

Donut Peach

Also known as

• Saucer Peach
• Flat Peach
• Saturn Peach

Donut peaches are sweeter than most other peaches, lower in acid, and the pit doesn't cling to the flesh. They are ideal for eating out of hand, or any other way you would use regular peaches. The flesh is white, and they have a squat shape.

Substitutes

• Peach

Nectarine

Nectarines are technically peaches without the furry skin, and tend to be slightly smaller, sweeter and more nutritious than peaches. Like peaches, nectarines can be white or yellow, clingstone or freestone. Letting nectarines ripen at room temperature for a couple of days will make them softer and juicier (but not sweeter).

Substitutes

• Peach (not as sweet)
• Apricot

Peach

Peaches are round and juicy with downy yellowish-red skin and a rough stone. The pulp varies in colour from white to yellow and certain types have red stains. Peaches always have to be picked ripe (they do not ripe well after they have been picked). You can keep peaches for one to three days but bruising can cause the fruit to go bad very quickly.

Substitutes

• Nectarine (sweeter)
• Apricot
• Papaya
• Mango

Plum

Also known as

• Fresh Prune

Plum fruit is sweet and juicy and it can be eaten fresh or used in jam-making or other recipes. Plum juice can be fermented into plum wine. Dried plums are known as prunes. Plums come in a wide variety of colours and sizes. Some are much firmer-fleshed than others and some have yellow, white, green or red flesh, with equally varying skin colour. Plums are juicier than other stone fruits.

Substitutes

• Prunes (rehydrate in water first)