As a chef and food writer with a newborn, one of my main concerns is her nutrition. My perhaps naive dream is to have a child who eats almost everything, so I’ve been looking into how I might be able to raise a culinarily adventurous kid by studying different cultures, looking into the science, and, most importantly, asking other parents for tips and tricks. So if you have any success stories, do share.

All my research points to the importance of exposure: eating a wide range of foods, farm visits, cooking, gardening, sharing meals, even helping to clean up. With that in mind, today’s recipe is one to make with children. Nothing shouts of summer more than sweet, juicy, ripe berries, but in the heat they tend to go overripe and squishy rather quickly. Don’t throw them away – as long as there is no mould on them, freeze them to use whenever you please. Blend frozen berries into instant ice-cream, add to smoothies, refreeze as ice lollies or preserve by making a yummy fruit leather. Any fruit works, especially if it’s a bit overripe (so it blends easily), and that includes all berries, apples, bananas, mangos, peaches and plums.

Fruit leather

These sweet treats are delicious for adults and children alike, and are great fun to make together. Experiment with different flavour combinations such as strawberry and banana, blueberry and plum, or raspberry, apple and mint. And experiment with a hint of a sweet spice, such as cinnamon, sumac or allspice.

Overripe fruit (berries, apples, bananas, stone fruit etc)

Heat the oven to 120C (100C fan)/250F/gas ¼. Remove any pips and stalks from your chosen fruit, then blend to a puree. Line a baking tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper or a silicone mat (which works best), and spread the mixture evenly across the surface in a 5-7mm-thick layer, spreading it out right up to the edges. Bake in the low oven for four to five hours, checking on it every now and again, until the puree has dried out into a leathery sheet. (If it’s very hot and sunny, you can dry the fruit puree in direct sunlight, but it will take a day or two to achieve the same effect.)