Surf, Sand and Summertime Desserts

Content and recipe provided by our partner Lisa Porada, Chocolate Carousel ~

Dessert is in fashion any time of the year but during the summer months lighter, simple desserts are all the rage.  For me, I love using seasonal ingredients when I bake and that makes summertime desserts even more exciting because of the amazing fresh ingredients available this time of year.

During warmer months, fresh fruit desserts are very popular, everything from strawberry shortcakes to fresh fruit cobblers make eating dessert feel more like satisfying one of the essential food groups!  Fresh berries, peaches and nectarines add a natural sweetness to many baked goods and by the way work well paired with ice cream. In my opinion everything is better when served over ice cream!

Another popular dessert option during the summer months are no bake desserts.  Let’s face it, when it’s hot outside no one wants to turn on the oven so no bake desserts are a great option.  These can be ice box style cakes, no bake cheesecakes, puddings or candy. These are usually very simple to make, don’t require a lot of ingredients and typically don’t take much time to prepare.  

Below is a simple fresh fruit crisp that I love to make during the summer.  You can sub out the peaches for nectarines and us any berries you like but I do have to say the peach blueberry combination is fabulous over vanilla bean ice cream.  

Ingredients:

6 peaches, remove the pit and slice

1 Cup fresh blueberries

Juice of 1 lemon

½ cup sugar

2 tbs. flour

1/8 tsp nutmet

¼ tsp of cinnamon

Toss together in a bowl and place in greased 9×9 pan

For Topping

1 ½ C old-fashioned oats

½ C flour

¼ cup of butter cut into chunks

½ C brown sugar

Mix ingredients for topping together mashing up butter and arrange on top of fruit mixture

Bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven.  Serve with Ice Cream!

Chocolate Carousel is widely known for its beautiful and delicious cake creations, creative design concepts and exceptional quality and service.  Chocolate Carousel has received a number of local and national awards for its work and philanthropy.

Lisa Porada is the owner and executive pastry chef at Chocolate Carousel in Wall, NJ.  Tune in on Wednesdays at noon on https://www.facebook.com/ChocolateCarouselDessertShoppe to watch and interact with Lisa as she demonstrates fun and creative recipes and techniques Live on Facebook.