Storage & Handling
Dry Goods
We do not put expiration or use by dates on our products. Store all bags, tins, and unopened jars in a cool, dry place for maximum shelf life. Once opened, all of our conserves, chutneys, marmalades, or fruit sauces must be refrigerated.
Frozen Pastries
Keep frozen until baking. Most pastries (with the exception of some cakes) will keep well for 6-9 months. For a golden brown crust, brush the dough with cream, milk, or an egg-wash.
Pre-heat your oven. For convection ovens, lower the given tempeature by 25°. If your pastries brown too quickly, cover them with a loose sheet of foil. We include parchment sheets with each shipment, and recommend that you use them to line your baking tray. Turnover and pocket fillings may leak during baking, so it's best to plate them while they are still warm.
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove pie from freezer, (optional:lightly brush top of crust and edges with an egg wash. (1 egg and 1/2 cup cream or milk). sprinkle with sugar.) Put pie on a baking sheet lined with paper or foil, in case juice leaks from the pie as it bakes. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Then, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes longer. If top crust and edges looks like they are getting too brown, loosely lay a piece of foil over the top of the pie. This will keep it from getting too dark, while the filling cooks. Check after another 20 minutes. Insert a knife into one of the slits. If there is resistance, the pie should cook for another 10 minutes or so. Over all, the pie should take one hour + 10 minutes or so, to bake. Let sit for at least an hour before eating.
At 375°, bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the center finds no resistance. Cool slightly and serve warm. Baked crisps that have been thoroughly cooled may be refrigerated and reheated.
Brush the tops with cream, milk, or egg-wash. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. At 375°, bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Scones are best when served warm.
Place scuffins individually into a greased muffin tray. Brush the tops with cream, milk, or egg-wash. At 400°, bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow at least 15 minutes to cool before plating. Filings may leak during baking.
Brush the tops with cream, milk, or egg-wash. Sweet pastries may be sprinkled with sugar if desired. At 400°, bake for 10-15 minutes (7-10 for buttons) or until golden brown.
Brush the tops with cream, milk, or egg-wash. Sweet pastries may be sprinkled with sugar if desired. At 400°, bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Brush dough with cream, milk, or egg-wash and sprinkle with sugar if desired. At 400°, bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Crostadas may need extra time due to double-crust.
Fresh Fruit
As soon as your Frog Hollow Farm box arrives, remove your fruit from its packaging. Our organically grown fruit has no pesticide residue, however the trees are exposed to the elements and to limited handling as it is picked and packed, so like store-bought produce, it's important to wash all fruits before eating. A rinse under the tap with a gentle scrub from your fingers is sufficient but do not wash fruits until you're ready to eat or cook with it.
At Frog Hollow we pick ripe and ship with the intention that nearly all fruit be ready to eat upon arrival or within a few days. With the exception of cherries, most fruits should not be kept refrigerated. Please refer to the following for the storage and handling instructions for the fruit types we ship.
Cherries are highly perishable and are the only fruit we recommend be stored in the refrigerator. Keep your cherries unwashed and uncovered in the coldest part of your refrigerator (typically the back). Left at room temperature, cherries can deteriorate quickly. Stored properly, they can retain their texture and flavor for more than a week.
On the farm, we use a pitting machine to separate pits for our baking and preserves. At home, many of us now use the 'beer bottle' technique: remove the stem, place the cherry at the mouth of an empty bottle with the stem-side up, and with the eraser end of a pencil or a chopstick pop the pit out into the bottle waiting below!
To freeze cherries for future use in smoothies, cooking, or baking, spread the pitted cherries in a single layer on a cookie or baking sheet and put into the freezer. When frozen solid, transfer to a bag or sealed container for long-term storage.
These stone fruits will be best experienced at room temperature. They are ripe when yielding gently to the touch and will not ripen further if put in cold storage. If your apricots, apriums, peaches, or nectarines are not yielding to the touch upon arrival, leave them away from direct sunlight on a countertop or table. Check on them once or twice a day to see how they are ripening. They will bruise easily when soft, so handle with care. If you like your fruit very ripe like Farmer Al does, rotate the pieces as you check on them so the weight of the fruit doesn't cause bruising or collapse in a single area.
If you have more fruit than you can eat, or your fruit is deteriorating too quickly, refrigerate them only when they are absolutely ripe and soft. The humidity of your refrigerator may mean fruits will store better in a plastic bag. Stone fruits left in cold storage will lose flavor and the texture may lose appeal. Return all fruit to room temperature before eating out of hand for the best experience.
To freeze stone fruit for future use in smoothies, cooking, or baking, slice the stone fruit along the "seam" and remove the pit. If you prefer to remove the skin, do so first by blanching the fruit quickly in hot water to easily peel the skin away from the flesh of the fruit. Spread the halves or slices in a single layer on a cookie or baking sheet and put into the freezer. When the pieces are frozen solid, transfer to a bag or sealed container for long-term storage.
Plums and pluots may withstand refrigeration better than peaches and nectarines, however we recommend as little refrigeration as possible. Like our other fruits, they are best experienced at room temperature and are ripe when yielding gently to the touch. If your plums or pluots are not tender to the touch upon arrival, leave them away from direct sunlight on a countertop or table. Check on them once or twice a day to see how they are ripening and handle gently, as most plums can bruise easily when they are ready to eat.
If you must store your plums or pluots in the fridge, do so only after the fruit is ready to eat. The humidity of your refrigerator may mean fruits will store better in a plastic bag.
To freeze plums or pluots for future use in smoothies, cooking, or baking, slice the fruit off the pit and place the slices in a single layer on a cookie or baking sheet and put into the freezer. When the pieces are frozen solid, transfer to a bag or sealed container for long-term storage.
Pears are the only fruit we grow which ripen off the branch. This can lead to them being at different levels of ripeness when shipped. European pears are ripe when wrinkled and yielding slightly near the stem. Just like peaches, do not stack or cluster them at room temperature and check on them several times to see how they are ripening. Pears produce more and more ethylene as they ripen (just like bananas do) and so will ripen very quickly if placed in a paper bag or if stacked. We don't recommend this, as it is notoriously easy for pears to go from unripe to overripe and undesirable.
As a comice fruit, pears withstand refrigeration better than summer stone fruit and we recommend storage only after the fruit is ripe. Refrigeration does not stop the ripening process of pears--they may be kept in the fridge to ripen at a slower pace, but like our summer fruits are best experienced at room temperature. The humidity of your refrigerator may mean fruits will store better in a plastic bag.
To freeze European pears for future use in smoothies, cooking, or baking, peel if desired and core. Halve or slice and place the pieces in a single layer on a cookie or baking sheet and put into the freezer. When the pieces are frozen solid, transfer to a bag or sealed container for long-term storage.
Asian pears are shipped ripe and ready to eat. Like European pears, Asian pears will continue to ripen when off the branch and can withstand refrigeration better than summer stone fruits. Asian pears are also sometimes called "apple pears" as their texture often resembles an apple with a certain amount of crunch to the flesh.
Refrigerate if desired, however like all fruits, the texture and flavor are best experienced at room temperature. The humidity of your refrigerator may mean fruits will store better in a plastic bag.
To freeze Asian pears for future use in smoothies, cooking, or baking, peel if desired and core. Halve or slice and place the pieces in a single layer on a cookie or baking sheet and put into the freezer. When the pieces are frozen solid, transfer to a bag or sealed container for long-term storage.
Beauty is Skin Deep
We try our best, however fruit that is truly ripe and ready to eat may not be cosmetically perfect. To offer the most delicious, juiciest fruit we are known for, some bruising can occur to our fruit when picked. Picking bruises are easy to spot as they will resemble a thumbprint or a finger trio caused as the soft fruit is plucked from the stem. Some varieties we grow are very fragile, but the taste of real fruit is worth the risk. Even the slightest break in the skin can develop into a brown or moldy area in transit. Cut away these sections immediately and enjoy the rest of your tree-ripened fruit.
Our orchard is farmed organically and sustainably so our fruit is more susceptible to conditions like brown rot blossom blight which conventional growers use harsh fungicides to combat. If your fruit appears excessively damaged, bruised, browned or moldy, this may be caused by brown rot that has been exacerbated by poor weather during the growing season. Compromised portions of fruit may be cut away and any ripe fruit salvaged by putting the fruit immediately in the fridge, however please contact us if your fruit is any way unsatisfactory.