I've lived in Thailand for years, and if there's one thing that the Thai's know how to do well (actually, when it comes to food they do an awful lot of things well) it is use their great bounty of tropical fruits to great effect through really easy and refreshing fruit shakes.

These are so good as the weather warms. Nothing beats a fresh pineapple or lime shake while enjoying a hot summer day.

The great thing about these fruit shakes is their simplicity. Most smoothie style recipes get it all wrong. All you really want in a fruit shake is an icy and refreshing liquid taste of fruit; and as such these shakes have just three ingredients.

Fruit

Ice

Sugar syrup

They are really easy, but they'll make the best shake you've ever tasted!

The first thing that you need if you want to make fruit shakes is some simple syrupy. This is just equal parts sugar and water boiled together and cooled. This syrup will last for ages in the fridge, and is great for all sorts of things.

You will also need crushed ice. Many blenders advertise an ice crushing feature, but unless you really have a professional caliber blender, they probably don't work very well. Make your own crushed ice by putting some ice cubes in a bag and whacking them. Use a cast iron fry pan to great effect here!

Basic fruit shake recipe (enough for one 12 ounce glass)

Fruit. The amount for most shakes can be thought of as a banana equivalent amount of fruit

1-3 or more Tbls of simple syrup

Crushed ice, fill the glass you'll use about 3/4 full of crushed ice

Dump all the ingredients in a blender and give it about 15 seconds and you are done.

The amount of sugar needed will vary with the acidity of the fruit. A sweet fruit like a banana or papaya will need very little sugar, but a lime or tart orange shake will need considerably more. Just add a bit to start, and stir in more as needed.

Some great fruits for shakes are:

Pineapple-about a banana sized chunk

Papaya-the same

Watermelon-same

Banana...that's right, a banana sized piece of banana

Mango (mmm, really good)-same amount

Berries, a good handful

Apple (add a bit of milk as well)

Orange (fill the glass about half full of freshly squeezed juice)

Lime (the juice from one big lime, or two small)

You can also try mixing fruits together and creating unique mixed fruit shakes.

Enjoy these as you take in the lazy days of summer.