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When it comes to fruits, we always choose what’s seasonal, and when possible, local. Recently I discovered muscat grapes from Chile, and I must say, I love these grapes. And it’s not even being made into wine!

The Chilean Muscat is now in season, till about early May. I got them as part of the Signature Farm Box at Kin’s Farm Market, where for $60 you receive a box full of high quality, fresh produce.

The Chilean Muscats are nice and round, with a beautiful gradient from green to pink. The grapes are very juicy, and it’s sweet and floral. The fruit may be on the smaller size but it’s super easy to eat. I think I ate the entire bunch in one seating!Obviously, these would make a great addition to a charcuterie board, or simply snacking on them with a few cubes of aged cheddar. I also found suggestions online about grape salads or bruschetta. I was trying to come up with other interesting ways to enjoy the grapes, and here are two things I did:

Smoothie

It’s a no brainer to use the muscat grapes in a smoothie. I personally don’t like bananas in my smoothie, so I need something else to bring up the sweetness. These grapes are perfect substitute. Of course you can add whatever you want in your smoothie. Mine included an apple, an orange, frozen blueberries, frozen muscat grapes and strawberry flavoured kefir. The result was a beautiful purple/magenta coloured smoothie. And the sweetness was just right.

Tip 1: Freeze the grapes ahead of time and use them in place of ice cubes, so your “ice” wouldn’t dilute the taste.
Tip 2: Use flavoured kefir to add extra fruit flavour without the fruit. Perfect for colder season when the fruit selection is limited.

Cheesecake

We found this cheesecake recipe that includes a jello layer on top. We sliced the grapes in half to line the outside of the cheesecake, then more grapes inside the cheesecake. Finally we put some grapes in a pattern on top, before we poured the jello layer to set. For the jello layer, it calls for fruit juice and gelatin. We picked up a pink cranberry cocktail juice that gave us some tartness and colour. The end result? A pretty pink grape cheesecake with grapes in every bite.

Need some more inspirations? Check out Fruits from Chile’s website. Any other ways to enjoy grapes? Tell me!

Disclaimer: Fresh produce was provided to me complimentary of Fruits From Chile. Views and opinions are however our own.