While we look forward to celebrating Peach-O-Rama® every year, it’s easy to lose sight that there’s more to summer than just peaches. By mid-June, the color spectrum in Metropolitan Market’s produce department becomes even more vibrant, with the hues of additional stone fruits such as nectarines, plums, apricots, and cherries. Flavorful fruits are available year-round at Metropolitan Market, but June through September is a truly exceptional time, providing special varietals like apriums, pluots, and plumcots.
What Are Stone Fruits?
Classified botanically as drupes, stone fruits have a thin skin, juicy flesh, and a pit, or stone, in the center that has a seed inside. They can be further classified by whether the pit naturally clings to the flesh when you cut into the fruit (called clingstone fruit) or falls from the flesh easily when you cut into it (called freestone fruit). They’re all great eaten out of hand, tossed into salads, made into desserts, or turned into jams, but the numerous varieties provide an array of varying flavors, colors, and textures. It can be a little dizzying! This quick guide will introduce you to some of what you'll find in our stores. Enjoy the classics and try something different—you may just discover a new summer favorite!
Yellow Peaches
Yellow peaches are the most classic summer peach. Large, orange, and covered with fuzz, they have big pits and sturdy flesh that can vary from reddish to pinkish to bright gold. Classic peach flavor has a perfect balance of sugar and acid.
White Peaches
Imagine how a peach would mellow out if it took a vacation. Lower in acid than their yellow counterparts, white peaches have a light cream-colored flesh and a sweeter, softer flavor that really comes through.
Donut Peaches
Donut peaches, named because they’re flat, and well, donut-shaped, descended from a flat variety native to China. They have velvety skin with a soft, juicy, white flesh and a hint of almond flavor.
Black Plums
Juicy black plums have thin, taut skin with semi-firm yellow flesh inside. They range from sweet to sweet-tart in flavor, and the taste often has tropical notes—think banana or pineapple.
Red Plums
Milder and sweeter than black plums, red-skinned plums have crimson flesh, and some say, an aftertaste that reminds them of wine.
Pluots
Pluots are natural crosses of plums and apricots, typically consisting of about 75 percent plum and 25 percent apricot. They have thin, glossy skin like a plum and may bruise easily. They’re sweeter than either plums or apricots and come in a variety of skin and flesh colors, depending on which plums and apricots are involved in the initial cross.
Plumcots
Plumcots are half plum and half apricot. As with pluots, their skin and flesh color vary, and they can also have slightly fuzzy skin (like an apricot) or slightly mottled or speckled skin (like a plum). They are very fragrant, with flavors that often include notes of pomegranate, berry, and cherry.
Apriums
Because they’re 75 percent apricot and 25 percent plum, apriums are almost always fuzzy like apricots, with a very juicy flesh, strong apricot flavor, and hints of raspberry.
Apricots
With a very tart flavor, creamy texture, and soft, fuzzy exterior, apricots are much smaller than peaches or nectarines and often have freestone pits which make them super easy to eat out of hand.
Black Velvet Apricots
While they’re technically a type of plumcot, Black Velvet apricots look like small fuzzy apricots with very fine, purple-black, velvet skin and bright yellow flesh inside. They’re sweet and tart at the same time, with a bit of cinnamon flavor.
Yellow Nectarines
Yellow nectarines are the result of a natural genetic mutation in peaches that left the skins glossy instead of fuzzy. While some prefer peaches, others say nectarines have the most perfect sugar and acid balance of all fruits. They often have a higher Brix level than peaches but taste more tart because of their higher acid content.
White Nectarines
Slightly heart-shaped white nectarines have less acid than their yellow counterparts, so they taste sweeter. Their skins are especially thin, with cream- or rose-colored flesh with flavor hints of baking spices.
How to Buy Stone Fruits
Look for fruit that’s tender to the touch—or rather, to avoid squeezing, smell it. Ripe stone fruit has a sweet, floral fragrance. Store unripe fruit on the counter for a few days to allow it to ripen.
Great Uses for Stone Fruits
At the peak of season, nothing beats eating stone fruit straight up, with breakfast or as an afternoon snack. But for larger meals, explore our peach and plum recipes for great ways to incorporate stone fruits into lunch, dinner, dessert, and even cocktails. You’ll find fun entertaining ideas like Lamb Kebabs with Grilled Peaches and Chocolate Plum Cake. Looking to preserve some of summer to enjoy later in the year? Learn how to can peaches to use in the winter. Also, don’t throw away all those pits—stone fruit pits can be reserved and used to make flavorful syrups, vinegars, or liqueurs. Time for a summer adventure!