Everything is as sweet as dessert in the summertime.
Living is totally easy:
Morning warmth and sunshine. Just like dessert.
Granola with berries and sweet coffee. Reminds me of dessert.
Chicken salads and pink wine for lunch. Desserty.
Peachy blue sunsets, popcorn for dinner, and roasted apricots for dessert.
Gin and tonics. Totally dessert.
Sleep. Wake. Repeat.
(Oh, but let’s not forget the fact that we still have to totally work hard, and get our hustle on, and keep our eye on the prize, and keep our nails did, and eat our vegetables, and pay our bills, and stay inspired, and just when we think we’ve worked hard enough… we have to try to work a little harder)
But other than that… summertime is totally all dessert, all the time.
Summer fruit is just stunning. I ate most of these fuzzy little apricots just standing in my kitchen, trying to dream up a way to bake them. They’re delicate and sweet, and absolutely my favorite fruit of summer.
Wait… did I say that about peaches last week? Did I say that about strawberries the week before that? I can’t decide. I’m in summer heaven.
I dipped apricot halves in granulated sugar and roasted them under the broiler.
The fruit stays firm, but the tops get crunchy crisp, as the melted sugar creates a light candy shell.
I topped these little gems with honey sweetened marscarpone cheese and a bit of mint and lemon balm. Lemon balm is like lemon mint.
So simple. This dessert takes 5 minutes to create.
You could also try this recipe with ripe plums, ripe peaches or nectarines. It feels fancy… but it’s really just good, simple, summer food.
Simple Roasted Apricots with honey mascarpone
Serves 2
4 apricots, halved and pits removed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup marscarpone cheese
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon chopped mint
1 teaspoon chopped lemon balm (optional)
Preheat broiler. Place sugar in a shallow bowl. Dip apricot halves in sugar and place in a oven safe dish. Place dish under the broiler and bake for 3 to 4 minutes. Keep an eye on the apricot, and carefully rotate the pan as necessary. Sugar will melt, boil and begin to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
In a small bowl, mix honey into mascarpone cheese. Place slightly cooled apricots on a plate. Top with a dollop of mascarpone mixture, and a sprinkling of fresh mint and lemon balm. Serve.
These apricots are best served just after they’re baked.
Becki @ Becki's Whole Life
Yumm…I love to roast things..need to start roasting fruit more, these look divine. I have never heard of lemon balm, I will have to look it up!
Juls
I love apricots. I love marscapone. I love honey. I love sugar. There is nothing here I do not love. and I love this post for that. Off for apricots now methinks.
Kathryn
YUMMY!
Lauren at Keep It Sweet
Yum! Any excuse to eat marscarpone works for me!
Lena
I already planned on buying apricots, I’m going to make this for dessert!
I read a lot about grilling peaches and apricots but I don’t own a grill, so I love this alternative. Thanks!
erin
mmmm… apricots… i love winter (i live in australia) but oh, you totally made me jealous of summer. they look AMAZING.
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga
Apricots are absolutely my favorite fruit of summer, too! Either that or white nectarines. Or strawberries. Or bloobs. Or…well, ya know. :)
I love the variety and abundance but truly I DO LOVE apricots!
“the melted sugar creates a light candy shell.” – i bet kinda like the shell on a creme brulee. I am all over candy shells!
Blog is the New Black
YUM! Those apricots look delicious on their own.
Zulejka
Wow! Sumer heaven, really!;) I also like your lament (or is it?) on working hard … So true.
Maris(In Good Taste)
Such a great idea! I can’t wait to try this. A healthy and delicious treat!
Karinvd
Ah apricots. We have been devouring apricots last week. Mostly just like they were, standing in the kitchen, walking towards the living room, playing outside, going to bed… wait, did I say that? That would be weird, wouldn’t it? Let’s just pretend I didn’t do that.
Anyway, we ofcourse baked with them too. Delicious! Your version looks so amazing, and so simple. Have to try that too, thanks!
Miranda
This looks so amazing. Fancy-ing up fruit is actually something I’ve never done in the kitchen, but I will definitely be trying it soon.
Kathryn
I love doing this was passionfruit as well – there’s something about the crispy sugary shell that I just can’t get enough of. It also looks like such a fancy dessert and always impresses people.
Doux Project
Gorgeous!
Marisa
Mmm. Looks delish. It’s almost 1 in the morning, Joy. I want an apricot now!
I’m going to make that dream come true. Off to the kitchen….
Marisa
I should also add that apricots TOTALLY remind me of summer. When I was a kid, we had an apricot and plum tree in our backyard, and (to my brothers and me) the best part of summer was picking off fresh fruit and eating it straight from the tree.
Can’t wait to try this!