Nectarine Blondie Parfait
Perhaps you’ve caught yourself doing this before: you’re lost in thought — truly daydreaming about nothing in particular. Then you wonder, “How in heck did I end up thinking about that?” and you proceed to trace back which thought led to what until you either figure it out (depending upon whether you have more patience than I do) or give up because in the long run, it truly doesn’t matter.
That’s the best way to describe how I ended up with these Nectarine Blondie Parfaits. I’d seen Sunset magazine’s photo of “Chocolate Liliko’i Parfaits” ingredients layered deliciously in glasses, and wondered about the combination of flavors I’d use for a treat like that. I just happened to have gelato, and had just finished making a batch of blondies. Of course there were beautiful nectarines on my counter destined for a salad that I might also use.
And then there was a jar of Arequipe de Antano in the fridge. Surely something good could come of a few of those ingredients if I stacked them nicely in a glass.
Right?
Nectarine Blondie Parfaits
makes 12
1 recipe gelato or ice cream
6 nectarines
1 recipe nectarine syrup as follows:
Stir 1/2 c. clover honey and 6 T water in a small saucepan over medium heat until honey dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in 3-4 tsp. fresh lemon juice, then allow to cool slightly. Add the sliced nectarines to the syrup and let sit 15-20 minutes.
To build the parfait, choose wide mouthed glasses.
Take 1 blondie per serving and break into pieces, placing one chunk in the bottom of the glass.
Spoon over 1-2 slices of nectarine and a scoop of gelato.
Repeat until the glass is full, then drizzle over a few tablespoons of nectarine syrup…
…then grab an ice tea spoon and dig in.
Notes:
- Sweet, crunchy, chewy, cool, refreshing, and oh so satisfying. Seriously. The almonds in the blondies are wonderful and the blondies themselves hold up quite nicely against the wetness of the syrup and gelato.
- Of course you can make this with your own recipes, but I’m telling you — the ricotta in the gelato is a very nice compliment to the nectarines.
- The syrup? It’s not thick like many I’ve made. The idea comes again from Demolition Desserts, and the flavor of the lemon with the honey is so yummy, it’s probably going to replace what I usually make with other fruit desserts. Truly fresh and tasty.
- I’m already wondering about plums, and apricots, maybe old reliable bananas…the possibilities are endless, right?
- I was tempted to use the Arequipe de Antano which essentially is dulce de leche and know it would have been perfect with this. Perfect. But I had to taste that syrup all by itself, and I’m so glad I did. I’ll save the thicker sauce for another time.
- Such a great dessert for a summer barbeque, or Father’s Day.
- Grilling the nectarines would be fabulous — I promise!
