Berry Good

Luscious berries are one of the perks of this time of year. While enjoying fresh fruit in season is amazing, nothing brings back the taste of summer as much as freezer-fresh berry desserts in the middle of winter. Berries frozen within hours of picking capture peek flavor for later enjoyment.

Freezing berries is as easy as pie with the non-stick Demarle Silpat®.  

5/6 of the half flat of raspberries easily fit stem-side down on the large Silpat®/PBS (which was perfect because I wanted to eat the rest!) 

Two trays of strawberries, in turn, and my project was almost complete. 

Once frozen, the berries easily roll up in the Silpat® and can then be funneled into freezer bags.

Filling the freezer bags is easier than it looks in the picture.  Doing it with one hand while holding a camera in the other guarantees spills, at least for me!


I also hand-picked berries of similar size off the Silpat® to package for strawberry pies.



This is the easiest process for freezing berries I've ever done. Try it; you'll like it!

Hockey Puck Soup

I love to make home-made soup, especially during the winter months. Not only does it warm my tummy after filling the house with tempting aromas, there is much to share or save for later. True comfort food. One of the things that sold me on Demarle products was the idea of  freezing leftovers in the trays, and then storing them in freezer bags. It is so much healthier than using plastic ware that leeches chemicals into foods upon reheating. My favorite is the Round Tray, which holds six 8-ounce portions. The frozen bricks resemble hockey pucks, hence the nickname "hockey puck" soup.

Here's how you do it:

1. Place Flexipat tray of choice on the medium perforated baking sheet.
2. Fill wells with soup.   
3. Cover with the medium Silpat®
4. Place in freezer until portions freeze.
5. Remove from freezer and uncover.
6. Immediately pop out the frozen hockey pucks and place in a freezer bag.
7. Store hockey pucks in freezer.

To reheat, microwave a hockey puck in a bowl covered by the octagonal Silpat® or warm in DD stainless on your stove top over medium-low heat.