With the arrival of spring and with summer soon on its way, many people turn to using fresher, lighter ingredients in their cooking. When it’s warm outside, it’s nice to eat something juicy and refreshing, like fruit, rather than consuming something that feels heavy in your stomach.

While it’s important to ensure fruit is incorporated into a healthy, balanced diet all-year-round, the spring/summer season is particularly great for being more adventurous, as many more types of fruit are available.

You may find that making healthier food choices, such as swapping your usual chocolate bar for a piece of fruit, can be rather dull. But there’s actually a whole host of ways in which you can use fruit to make delicious, exciting desserts.

So next time you find yourself reaching for a bag of candy, consider making some of these delicious fruit-based desserts instead:

Smoothie

If you have a smoothie maker or simply a blender, this is a great way to use a selection of fruits to create one tasty and filling drink.

Combinations like strawberry, banana and mango work well together, or raspberry, apple and grape. You can be as creative as you wish, even throwing in a segment of lime or avocado to add a bit of zing to your smoothie.

If you’re missing the creamy element of a high-calorie sweet dessert, add a tablespoon of low-fat natural yoghurt or peanut butter to provide a sweetened taste, without all the calories.

Compote

A fruit compote is a healthy alternative to honey or syrup and can add sweetness and flavour to the simplest of dishes.

Simply take a selection of berries – fresh or frozen – place them in a pan with a couple tablespoons of water and bring to the boil on a low heat, until the fruit is simmering slightly.

Once heated, mix the fruit together with a spoon using a mashing technique until it is blended together like a sauce.

Then drizzle on top of natural yoghurt and granola for a yummy boost of nutrition.

Salad

Take your favourite fruits and chop them up to make a delicious fruit salad. You could even place them in a bowl with some low-fat yoghurt and leave it to set in the freezer overnight to create a tasty, frozen dessert.

Fruits such as apples, bananas, cherries, blueberries and peaches are a good source of vitamin A, which is essential for maintaining healthy skin and helping the immune system ward off infections.

Infusions

Infusing fruit is another good dessert idea. Strawberries and lime is a great combination where you leave the strawberries to soak in fresh lime juice for a couple of hours, or overnight depending on how acidic you want your fruit to taste.

Limes are high in vitamin C – an antioxidant that is necessary for protecting the body’s cells and supporting tissues and organs.

If you don’t wish to use lime, you could leave your fruit to infuse in a bowl of fresh orange juice – another good source of vitamin C – and drain it after a few hours to reveal the unique flavour.