Pies, Crisps and Cobblers

• You don't need to thaw frozen fruit before using it in pies, tarts and cobblers, but you should add five or 10 extra minutes to the baking time and add a thickener, such as flour or tapioca, to account for extra juice in the fruit. Either add sugar or not, depending on how sweet you like desserts -- read the label to see if sugar was already added to the fruit. Sometimes a sweet crumb topping or dollop of ice cream provides enough sweetness without extra sugar.

With Fruit on Top

• Thawed frozen fruit typically needs a bit more sugar if you plan to use it as a topping over ice cream, yogurt, pound cake or cheesecake. Thaw the fruit in the refrigerator overnight, microwave it or place the bag under water for about 30 minutes. For a thick topping, cook the fruit with cornstarch, then let it cool. Add as much sugar to the fruit as you want, tasting as you go until it reaches the level of sweetness you prefer.

Jams and Jellies

• Jellies and jams made with frozen fruit work as fillings between cake layers, swirled into puddings and parfaits, as glazes for cakes or as fillings in cookies, sweet breads or donuts. Frozen berry jams and jellies work especially well because the freezing and thawing process helps the berries release more juice. Because frozen fruit typically has less pectin than fresh fruit, you will need to add pectin when you make jams.

Ice Creams, Sorbets and Granitas

• Making frozen sweets is even easier with frozen fruit than with fresh, because you don't have to contend with peeling and cutting. For ice cream, sherbet and sorbet, made with and without milk, or granita, a granular, slushy version of sorbet, simply use the fruit still frozen, straight from the bag. Since the fruit is already frozen, you can skip the ice cream maker and use your blender or food processor instead.