Freeze now, thank yourself in December: a cook's freezer plan
Crumble topping, pie fillings, stock, pastry, cookie dough and herb butter all freeze beautifully. Here is what to make now, what to skip and how long it keeps.
December is lovely, but it is also crowded. There are Lucia buns to bake, guests to feed and a Christmas Eve table to fill. The cook who survives it best is the one who did a little work in October, when the evenings are long and the kitchen is warm and quiet.
My freezer is not a museum. Everything that goes in has a label, a date and a plan. Done this way, an hour on a Sunday now gives you three or four easy dinners and desserts later, made with autumn fruit at its best.
What freezes beautifully
- Crumble topping: rub butter, flour, oats and sugar together, then freeze it loose in a bag. Scatter it straight from frozen over fruit and bake. Keeps about 3 months.
- Apple and pear filling: cook sliced apples or pears briefly with sugar, lemon and spice until just tender, cool and freeze flat. Raw pears go grainy and watery in the freezer, so always cook them first. Keeps about 6 months.
- Stock: chicken, beef or vegetable stock, cooled quickly and frozen in 500 ml portions. Reduce it first if space is tight. Keeps 4 to 6 months.
- Pastry: shortcrust or sweet pastry, wrapped in discs. Thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling. Keeps about 3 months.
- Cookie dough: roll into logs, wrap well, then slice and bake from frozen, adding a minute or two to the baking time. Keeps about 3 months.
- Herb butter: soft butter with parsley, garlic, lemon zest and salt, rolled in baking paper. Slice off coins for steak, fish or roast vegetables. Keeps about 3 months.
Recipe: chai spiced pear crumble with brown butter oats
Guide: stocks
What to leave out
Some foods simply change for the worse. Save your freezer space for things that come back as good as they went in.
- Mayonnaise and emulsions: they split as they thaw.
- Watery raw vegetables: cucumber, lettuce and radishes turn limp and soggy.
- Raw potatoes: the texture goes mealy and grey. Cooked mash freezes fine.
- Hard-boiled eggs: the whites go rubbery.
- Custards and cream sauces made with single cream: they can separate. Sauces built on butter and flour, or with double cream, behave better.
- Soft fresh cheeses: ricotta and cream cheese turn crumbly. Use them in cooked dishes if you must freeze them.
A freezer full of unnamed bags is a lottery. A freezer full of labels is a plan.
Label, wrap and use in time
Air is the enemy. Squeeze bags flat and as empty of air as possible, wrap pastry and butter twice, and leave a little space at the top of containers of stock because liquid expands as it freezes. Keep your freezer at -18 °C or colder.
Write three things on every label: what it is, the date, and how to use it. 'Pear filling, 13 Oct, for 1 tart, cook from thawed' saves a lot of guessing in December. Food stays safe for a long time at -18 °C, but quality fades, so aim to use everything within the months listed above. Thaw stock, pastry and fillings in the fridge, never on the counter.
Bella's tip: Freeze stock in a muffin tin, then pop the frozen pucks into a bag. Each one is roughly a ladleful, perfect for a pan sauce or a risotto.
Recipe: pear and almond tart
Recipe: garlic roasted pointed cabbage with herb butter and hazelnuts
Your freezer calendar
- This week: Make a big pot of stock and freeze it in portions. Clear out and list what is already in the freezer.
- Next weekend: Cook apple and pear filling while the fruit is good. Make a double batch of crumble topping.
- Early November: Make and freeze two discs of pastry and one or two logs of cookie dough.
- Mid November: Roll herb butter. Use up anything left over from last winter.
- Early December: Bake from the freezer: a crumble for a weeknight, cookies for Advent visitors.
- Week before Christmas: Thaw pastry and filling in the fridge for a festive tart. Use stock for the Christmas gravy.
