Roasted Fruit with Mini Almond Shortbread

“What do you think of when you hear the word dessert? Does your mind automatically go to ice cream, cookies, pies, or other decadent treats?… Let’s reset our thinking and consider fresh fruit — served without any preparation or garnishes — as dessert, shall we?”

https://www.thekitchn.com/in-defense-of-fruit-for-dessert-221163

Christine Gallery

Health minded folks have tried to hawk this concept to the American public for years…upon years…

Please note that the author of this piece was raised in a culture that did not include many sweets other than fresh fruit. I, on the other hand, was raised in a midwestern farm culture where high quality fresh fruit was relatively sparse, while ice cream, cookies, pies and other decadent treats were around in abundance. The particular abundance on the farm leaned toward dairy and egg based desserts such as custards, bread pudding, trifle and cream puffs… 

My first exposure to fresh fruit as dessert was at Schiavone’s, a local Italian fine dining restaurant. After you had stuffed yourself with whatever rich Italian-American dish you’d ordered, a platter of fresh fruit appeared. As I recall, though, that platter also held nutmeats and slices of delicious cheese, the requisite fats needed to fulfill the potential of all that fresh fruit! Which is pretty much where I am at today. Yes, a dish of fresh figs is amazing, when tossed with goat cheese crumbles and pistachios, then drizzled with honey. Super sweet dates are luscious, split open and stuffed with almond butter and chocolate chips. And the list goes on. Is it fresh fruit? Yes, but accompanied by sweet and fatty friends. 

It just needs a little something- a bit of sweetness, a bit of richness, a hit of acidity. Whatever, you can fill in the blank for your own taste preferences. Today I’m filling in the blank with a hint of honey, a touch of fat, spices and balsamic vinegar. All mixed into the fruit before it roasts in the oven for just a few minutes, softening it and bringing out all the caramel notes that fresh fruit desperately tries to keep hidden. The roasted fruit is sometimes a dessert all on its own, but I often nestle in a few tiny almond shortbreads, cut out using Mom’s container of miniature cookie cutters. 

The roasting technique is versatile, working well with whatever seasonal fruit one might have. Summer fruits like berries, peaches, cherries and figs? Check. Fall and winter fruits like grapes, pears, apples? Check. I sometimes add chopped nuts into the mix to be roasted, other times the finished fruit might be topped with a nut cream, or whipped cream. Or it might be just plain roasted fruit. The shortbreads freeze well and are easy to grab from the freezer to enrich the fruit when one so chooses.

My conclusion is that for this time in my dietary life, fruit-as-dessert is not ready for a solo gig. I could get there, it is possible, but how likely is that? People only live so long, y’know?