The range of fruits available in summer is vast, making it the ideal time to indulge in cool desserts! It takes very little work to combine seasonal ingredients into heavenly puddings. All you need to do is add cream or ice cream and the result is awesome!

Summer fruit flavours are nearly always complementary, so one can combine whatever one has with great success. One of my favourite summer puddings is fruit cream. For this, cut the fruit, either a single one or a mixture of fruits like mangos, bananas, apples, oranges, grapes and keep aside. Then, in another bowl pour chilled double cream. Add castor sugar and mix well. Add fruit and chill. You can even add cointreau or grand mariner.

To make fruit fools, fold the sweetened, pur?ed fruit into whipped cream and chill. Some fruit like apples, gooseberries, peaches or plums have to be cooked before. Another delicious dish involves a few crumbled macaroons topped with cut fruit tossed in kirsch with a dollop of whipped cream.

Summer fruit is best served at room temperature. But if the weather is hot, and you do not want the fruit deteriorating, chill it for an hour before eating it .

Peaches and plums cook well, and can be used in crumbles, pies and cobblers and frozen. Strawberries and raspberries are best kept uncooked but freeze well as sauces ? just pur?e them raw and sweeten before using. You can also use summer fruit in mousses, ice creams and sorbets. These keep for up to a month in the freezer, and are great with fresh fruit. The high pectin level of some fruits also means they make good jellies and jams.

light mango mousse

Ingredients: 2 mangoes; 2-3 tbs sugar; juice of 1 lemon; 1/2 cup heavy whipped cream; 2 egg whites

Method: Cut the mangoes and scoop out all the flesh. Pur?e until smooth with the lemon juice and sugar. Whip the cream and gently fold into the mangoes. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Stir in half of the whites until smooth. Fold in the remaining egg white. Spoon into individual glasses and chill overnight.