This post was created in partnership with Bonne Maman. All opinions are my own, including my obsession with Bonne Maman’s beautiful, traditionally made preserves.

I’m writing to you from a cool nook in my house—a perch on my bed where the windows open onto the canyon and the breeze has a chance to flow through. It’s been hot out, the kind of heat that lets you know summer has arrived, and is choosing its moment to make itself known. Morning walks yield sweat. Fruit is sweeter. The grass is gold. I’m considering my first Pacific Ocean swim of 2018. The nights are long, begging to bring friends together around food and story.

I came back from Paris stunned by the intersections of summer produce and aromatics in so much of the food we ate. Asparagus and hazelnut macarons. Raspberry rose pain perdu. Jasmine and lychee. Peas and thyme. Every fresh fruit or vegetable seemed to have its aromatic counterpart, herb or flower. (Hello, Kale & Caramel cookbook, which is organized by herb and flower and contains flavor pairing charts.) I was in my own kind of culinary heaven, immersed in the sensual power of scent and taste.

And then there was Bonne Maman’s new line of Intense preserves.

The Intense preserves, available in select stores around the US, features even more fruit than usual, luscious flesh of summer perfectly intact. Even better, the new Intense preserves have 39% less sugar than regular preserves, which means less blood sugar imbalance and more general joy. Sampling them on Bonne Maman’s boat on the Seine in Paris was glorious, but bringing them home was even more thrilling. It meant I got to start experimenting with my own combinations.

Apricot preserves have always been a favorite—particularly because the fruit’s season is so brief. Here, I paired the generous sweetness of apricot with rosewater (a bottle I picked up in Paris, of course). I wanted a dessert that was incredibly easy to throw together for the summer holidays ahead, so I added these flavors to a creamy base of Greek yogurt and crème fraîche. Paired with a bounty of fresh summer fruit—peaches, nectarines, berries—and an easy to whip up maple oat biscuit crumble, this is the ideal dessert platter. Excellent for picnics, patio snacking, or long summer evenings.

The real magic of this fruit fantasia (no, I’ve never had a fruit fantasia, either, but it feels so right) is in the layering, the dipping, the full-body, fruit-forward sensuality of it. You can arrange your dessert platter like an artist’s palette, dropping pops of nectarine orange and pale pink white peach, interspersed with pools of sunset colored petals and rich swaths of cream. Swirls of apricot preserve add depth, even as the texture and crunch of a homemade maple oat biscuit provide contrast. A work of art.

The maple oat biscuit is particularly exciting to me—it tastes just like the oat biscuits you buy in round tubes at the store, British style. These are completely plant-based, made solely of oats, flax meal, olive oil, maple syrup, and sea salt. They’re delightful for crumbling and make an excellent treat in their own right. And they’re the perfect hearty scoop for our apricot rose cream.

You could swap out the apricot preserves for any flavor you like best, of course. And the fruit selection is up to you. This is a dessert board that takes kindly to all alterations. It moves and flows with you and your preferences, the way any good kitchen project should.

I’m off to pack for my next adventure north (Alaska recap soon, I promise)—this time to Vancouver Island. I’ll visit an aunt who lives in Sooke, and then head slightly east to Vancouver to spend time with my childhood best friend and her family. I’m certain I’ll find some way to integrate a fruit fantasia into our agenda, especially since my aunt makes rose water from her own garden.

Two last notes before I leave you: Yesterday marked the second inaugural #honestinsta Monday, packed with tons of honest sharing on Instagram (from you), and a new podcast feature in which I got to discuss all sides of the #honestinsta movement, mental health, self-care, and social media. Also: Grey’s Anatomy, Alanis Morissette, therapy, and Queer Eye!

And while you’re hanging out on Instagram, go enter the generous giveaway I’m hosting with Bonne Maman, for four jars of Bonne Maman’s Limited Edition Secret Garden preserves, with strawberry, raspberry, and elderflower. It’s pure heaven.

Make yourself a fantasia, scoop some preserves, and have a listen. It’s one of my favorite ever.

The post APRICOT ROSE SUMMER FRUIT FANTASIA DESSERT PLATTER. appeared first on Kale and Caramel.