How to freeze carambola juice so you can enjoy this sweet and tart tropical fruit juice long after star fruit season has ended.
What does star fruit taste like?
Star fruit or carambola is a tropical fruit with a taste that is almost indescribable.
Some people say the sweet-tart flavor is a combination of apple, pear, and grape.
This fruit is one that must be experienced first hand to really experience the true essence of the flavor of this delightful star-shaped citrus fruit.
How to preserve carambola
Fresh carambola or star fruit doesn't last very long after it has been harvested or fallen from the tree.
One easy way to stretch the carambola season is to freeze the juice or fruit or to make dehydrated star fruit so you can enjoy it for months.
Freezing fresh fruit is one of my favorite ways to preserve our favorite fruits. Freezing the fruit or the juice is easy to do.
How can you tell if a star fruit is ripe?
Fresh star fruit doesn't have a very long shelf life once it has been harvested so when you purchase them from a grocery store they may be a slightly under-ripe yellowish color with some green on the edges of the fruit.
Yellow or green star fruit is not completely ripe. Underripe fruit can be left on the counter to ripen.
Ripe star fruit is deep orange in color, slightly soft and fragrant. When buying the fresh fruit try to pick fruits that are orange and fragrant.
The darker orange in color the fruits are the sweeter the flavor of the fruit and juice.
Recipe Prep
- Buy or pick carambola or star fruit that is ripe. The riper the fruit the sweeter the juice.
- Store-bought star fruit: Wash and scrub the fruit under cold water.
- Freshly picked start fruit: Wash and gently scrub any dirt or insects from the fresh fruit.
- Prepare the fruit: Trim the edges off the fruit and any brown or bruised areas. Slice the start fruit into star-shaped slices vertically. Use the tip of a paring knife to remove all the seeds.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs fresh, ripe star fruit. As many as you would like to process into carambola juice.
- Ice cube trays or a silicone egg bites mold.
Instructions
- Slice each trimmed carambola fruit into star shapes. Use the tip of your knife to pop the seeds out of each slice. Three large star fruit will yield about three cups of carambola slices.
- Place the sliced carambola into a blender or food processor. Process the carambola pieces about one minute in the blender until the pulp is liquefied.
- Pour the thick carambola juice through a fine-mesh strainer placed over a spouted bowl or spouted measuring cup to help prevent drips. Use the back of a spoon to mash the pulp to extract all of the juice from the pulp.
- Place two ice cube trays of a silicone egg bite mold on a flat surface. Fill each well with the carambola juice leaving about ½ an inch headspace. Freeze overnight.
- Once frozen flip the mold or ice cube tray over on a plate or a cookie sheet. After a few minutes, the juice will begin to melt and slip from the mold.
- Place the frozen cubes of juice in freezer bags and place them in the freezer until needed.
I love my silicone bites mold and use it for all sorts of fun things like freezing fruit juice. It comes in very handy and worked perfect for freezing carambola juice.
Nothing sticks to the inside of a silicone egg bites mold, unlike an ice cube tray which will do in a pinch.
Favorite Carambola Recipe
You can also dehydrate star fruit. Dehydrating is another of my favorite fruit preserving methods.
Use the frozen juice to make a refreshing pitcher of Carambola Iced Tea.
Use the fresh carambola fruit to make jam.
Carambola and Strawberry Jam is one of my favorite star fruit recipes. Making jam or jelly out of fresh carambola is another great way to preserve fresh carambola fruit.
The next time you have a few star fruit on hand and need a way to preserve the fruit for another day pull out the blender and puree the citrus fruit into juice and freeze the juice for another day.
Print the recipe
How To Freeze Carambola Juice
Equipment
- Ice cube trays or a silicone egg bites mold.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs fresh (ripe star fruit. As many as you would like to process into carambola juice.)
- water
Instructions
Recipe Prep
- Buy or pick carambola or star fruit that is ripe. The riper the fruit the sweeter the juice.
- Store-bought star fruit: Wash and scrub the fruit under cold water.
- Freshly picked start fruit: Wash and gently scrub any dirt or insects from the fresh fruit.
- Prepare the fruit: Trim the edges off the fruit and any brown or bruised areas. Slice the start fruit into star-shaped slices vertically. Use the tip of a paring knife to remove all the seeds.
Instructions
- Slice each trimmed carambola fruit into star shapes. Use the tip of your knife to pop the seeds out of each slice.
- Place the sliced carambola into a blender or food processor. Process the carambola pieces about one minute in the blender until the pulp is liquefied.
- Pour the thick carambola juice through a fine-mesh strainer placed over a spouted bowl or spouted measuring cup to help prevent drips. Use the back of a spoon to mash the pulp to extract all of the juice from the pulp.
- Place two ice cube trays of a silicone egg bite mold on a flat surface. Fill each well with the carambola juice leaving about ½ an inch headspace. Freeze overnight.
- Once frozen flip the mold or ice cube tray over on a plate or a cookie sheet. After a few minutes, the juice will begin to melt and slip from the mold.
- Place the frozen cubes of juice in freezer bags and place them in the freezer until needed.
- Three large star fruit will yield about three cups of carambola slices.
Video
Recipe Expert Tips
- Starfruit: The star fruit should be ripe for the best flavor.
Carol Ferguson
What a great idea! I have a neighbor with a fully loaded carambola tree and we are trying to figure out what to do with the dozens of fruit that are ripening daily. We can only eat, cook, and dehydrate just so many starfruit, so freezing the juice is the perfect answer to our dilemma! Thank you!!
Arlene Mobley
Carol it is carambola season! My favorite time of the year. Freezing the juice is a great way to preserve the fruit when you have so many ripening at the same time. Check out my Carambola Iced Tea Cooler recipe. It is so refreshing!