I love desserts. Well, who doesn’t? Pies, ice creams, cookies, cakes, biscuits, puddings, candies, tarts – you name it. And the one thing that makes a dessert better – stone fruits. Don’t worry, you know them. Stone fruits are those little summer fruits that have a stone or a pit (basically, a hard seed) in the middle. Plums, peaches, nectarines, lychees, cherries, apricots, etc. are all stone fruits. Each one brings an eruption of flavors in your mouth. The one thing that I regret the most about these summer delights is that they remain for such a short period of time. As it is, we have short summers here, and these fruits appear for an even shorter time. Personally, my favorite part about the summer season are these beautiful wonders of nature. They are not only yummy, but also rich in potassium, antioxidants, vitamins and fiber. Eat them fresh, or grill them, make jam, pies or ice creams out of them. These short term fruits are excellent in any and every way.

With this in mind, I am going to share one of my most successful and cherished dessert recipes with you guys, balsamic grilled stone fruits with ice cream. Fresh stone fruits are great. Grilled stone fruits with some syrup or glaze is awesome. But hot off the grill smoky stone fruits, along with ice cream is simply mind blowing!

In the given recipe, I used 4 kinds of fruits, nectarines, peaches, plums and cherries. You can always add more. The more the better, because, you can never have enough of these. The best thing about this recipe is that it can be made in under 30 minutes. So hurry up and brighten your lazy summer nights’ dinners (and lunches too, if you like).

This given recipe yields 4 servings.

 Ingredients:

– 1 ½  lb stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries)
– 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
– 1 tablespoon brown sugar
– ½ teaspoon shredded ginger (optional)
– Vanilla ice cream

Instructions:

–  Pit and slice plums, peaches and nectarines. Pit and halve cherries.
– Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
– On a lined baking tray, toss the stone fruits with balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and ginger.
– Bake for 20 – 30 minutes at 325 degrees F., tossing halfway.
– Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

I have used shredded ginger to enhance the flavor of the grilled fruits, but feel free to leave it out if you don’t like ginger. Also, you can serve this with Mascarpone cheese or Greek yogurt instead of vanilla ice cream. Just a tip, you can always top it with your choice of nuts or granola. So, go ahead and try it out and live your summer time to the fullest!