Recipes for using fruit in April

The first spring fruits show up this month: cherries and strawberries. Snagging up early season fruits in April can hit or miss on flavor, so I'll go over the best uses for each case.

Citrus is winding down, but if you don't want to let go yet, I have options to use the last of the season bounty, as well as recipes for preserving for later use.

Fruits in season in April: cherries, strawberries, rhubarb, grapefruit, blood oranges, mandarins, kumquats, and kiwi.

Jump to:

Strawberries
Cherries
Kiwi
Citrus fruit - season ends soon
Rhubarb
Spring cocktails & drinks
Preserving citrus
More spring resources

Strawberries

Strawberries are available year round, but have so much more flavor when they are in season. April is peak season for strawberries from Southern California (they actually start harvesting several months earlier but the flavor is mediocre from my experience). The rest of the US harvests strawberries starting mid April, or not until late May for cooler Midwest states.

Some recipes need the best tasting strawberries, and there's no way to get around that. These recipes use fresh strawberries without cooking or soaking them in sugar or alcohol - allowing their natural flavor to shine.

Flourless chocolate torte with strawberries

A very chocolatey, rich flourless torte. As it cools, the top collapses, making a well in the center perfect to fill with whipped cream, ganache, or strawberries.

Check it out

A flourless chocolate torte (also a flourless chocolate cake), topped with roasted strawberries. A recipe that makes 4 servings.

But many recipes can turn a bland strawberry into something quite tasty. When strawberries are cooked down into a concentrate, soaked in something flavorful, or mixed with cream and other flavors, the results can give life to underwhelming strawberries.

More recipes: The strawberry recipe collection has over 90 recipes including entire sections dedicated to strawberry shortcake, combinations with chocolate, and pairing with floral flavors.

Cherries

Cherry season starts in April and gets into full swing in May and June. If cherries aren't grown near you, the good news is they usually maintain their quality when shipped (unlike strawberries, which are picked early to ship while they are hard, sacrificing flavor).

Savory recipes

Spring cherry recipes bring along flavors of fresh herbs, citrus, and cheese. (In summer, cherries pair well with peaches, blueberries, and corn.)

Sweet recipes

April is the beginning of cherry season and your chances of finding them juicy and ripe are lower than in summer. If you find really flavorful cherries, make any dessert you want! Otherwise, look for recipes with added sugar or cream (which enhances some of the sweet flavors).

Note that if the center of your cherries aren't dark red, pie filling and sauces will need food coloring (or the addition of a black plum for color) or they will look slightly brown (which is ok, too).

More recipes: Look through 80+ cherry recipes, including fun twists on cherry pies, black forest variations, as well as salads and savory options.

Kiwi

Unlike most fruit, kiwi continue to ripen after they are harvested (similar to bananas). Kiwi will get softer, sweeter, and more aromatic as they continue to ripen off the vine.

Kiwi are firmer when picked before fully ripening, which means they are durable enough to stand up to shipping long distances. This means when the US kiwi season is over in a few months, we can still get kiwi from New Zealand at a similar quality (their season is opposite of the US).

More recipes: 25+ kiwi recipes from breakfast to dinner, and happy hour.

Mandarins are in season throughout winter and early spring.

Citrus fruit - season ends soon

Lemons and limes are available year-round at high quality, but other citrus come and go with the seasons. April is the last chance for citrus fruit, including kumquats, blood oranges and mandarins. Grapefruit are also available this month and into summer.

Salads & appetizers

Look forward to spring with some bright, citrus-y salads and appetizers. They would be especially good if you have warm enough weather to fire up the grill.

Chinese chicken salad with mandarin oranges

Rotisserie chicken, cabbage, and mandarin oranges are mixed with a sesame ginger dressing.

Check it out

A dinner plate filled with Chinese chicken salad, mandarin oranges, shredded cabbage, and a sesame salad dressing.

Citrus + meat

Make some delicious copy cat takeout at home, or try one of these other recipes that are bright, fresh, and perfect for spring.

Mandarin orange chicken

Mandarin orange chicken with double the sauce. Flavored with fresh oranges, zest, garlic, ginger, and sriracha.

Check it out

Mandarin orange chicken in a sauce with broccoli, sesame seeds, green onions and rice

Desserts

More citrus recipes:

Rhubarb

Yes, rhubarb is a vegetable. However it's treated more like a fruit for culinary purposes, so I've included it here. It's tart flavor balances out sweet desserts as well as adding pizazz to dinner recipes.

More recipes: Over 50 recipes in this year's rhubarb collection.

Spring cocktails & drinks

Spring brings outdoor weekend gatherings. Try some of these recipes for a seasonal drink.

Preserving citrus

With the citrus season ending, now is your last chance for preserving them. That could mean canning for long-term storage or keeping it simpler with refrigerator or freezer jam.