The custard apple is a hybrid of the sugar apple and the cherimoya – and is recognised for its lumpy green reptilian-like exterior. You won’t find much about this curious fruit that immediately resembles an apple, but its sweet, pale flesh might bring to mind the creaminess of custard.

For many years, Ayurvedic practitioners in India have used the custard apple and various parts of the tree it grows on to manage diabetes. A long distance from India, in the Peruvian Andes, Incan tribes have used the custard apple’s predecessors as a medicinal plant. In Japan, Okinawans have consumed custard apple for good health – and the custard apple has recently been recognised in studies of Okinawan longevity as a food with anti-obesity properties. This means you can have your custard treats and eat them too.

Four main areas of Australia are known to fruit copious custard apples, all of which can be found along the eastern seaboard – stretching along the coast from the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland to Lismore in Northern New South Wales. Queensland’s Sunshine Coast holds the record for the largest production of custard apples, and the first fruits of the season are usually found in Yeppoon.

Although eating the fruit fresh from the tree makes for a deliciously healthy treat, you could also try it in a smoothie or mix it in to a custard apple, lime and mint mojito sorbet. You can find custard apples at most local grocers from April through to August.