Spiced roasted summer fruit over sweet ricotta is the easiest dessert recipe you’ll need for summer! Either for a laidback family meal or for when you want to impress your guests, this dessert is there for you.

One of my favourite things about summer is all the delicious goodness that it brings with it. Especially, all the juicy succulent fruits that are in season during the warm summer months. Although nothing beats biting in a juicy fresh peach, nibbling on pulpy berries or munching on a refreshing watermelon, a prepared dessert is a must. However, I find that with summer fruits the least you do to them the better. For this reason, I love to simply roast fresh ripe fruits and serve them in multiple ways. Serving them over sweet ricotta is such a delicate treat, as the sweet ricotta balances perfectly with the sugared tart fruits.

Roasted Summer Fruits

During the warm months we are spoilt for choice with the abundance of in season fruits. Some of my favourites to roast, as either they hold their shape nicely or as they make the tastiest juice, are the following: peaches, plums, apricots, nectarine, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, mulberries, raspberries and blueberries. My favourite combo out of these fruits is the one I’m using here; peaches for their texture, raspberries for their juice and blackberries for a mixture of both.

To roast the fruits all you need is to mix them with brown sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest and cinnamon.

Brown Sugar: using this sugar helps to caramelise the fruits and adds a caramel like flavour. You can easily use normal white sugar although this will give a lesser flavour of caramel.

Vanilla: adds a warm aromatic flavour.

Cinnamon: a spice woody flavour that complements with the vanilla and the fruits.

Lemon juice and zest: add an extra freshness needed to balance things out.

Sweet Ricotta

One of the best ways to elevate any dessert is using sweet ricotta. With it’s delicate texture and taste it’s so easy to pair it with a lot of fruits. In addition, it is so easy to make that it’s perfect for summer! All you need to do to make this sweet ricotta is to mix together, with a simple fork or small whisk, the ricotta, honey and vanilla. No need to let it sit, you can easily serve it immediately. However, you can easily prepare it in advance and place it in the fridge for when you’re ready to use it.

If you are not a big fan of ricotta, you can easily serve the roasted fruits with a scoop or two of your favourite ice cream or with greek yogurt. These roasted fruits can be served for breakfast, as a delicious dessert or even as a snack.