Summer fruit papillotes with lavender ice cream -- Papillotes de fruits d'été et glace à la lavande

July 10, 2011

On Sunday morning, I woke up knowing that I had a lot inside me that I wanted to share with you. But I also knew I wouldn't have the time. Truth being said, it was just too sunny and pretty outside, and right at 6 AM, I had made the plan in my head that we were going to pack a quick picnic, go for a swim somewhere not too far, nap and then play in the garden.

Still, if I had taken the time, I would ideally have told you about the pea recipes I've been cooking in numbers this season; the tomato and zucchini tarts I've baked to take on picnics; the baked apricots we keep craving and never get enough of. I would have shown you the mulberry tart I cooked last week; the corn soup we've been enjoying while having our heads filled with memories of the beauty of Block island; the cookies we have not stopped eating; the tians and verrines I prepared for the weekend of July 4th when friends came over for dinner. But instead, I enjoyed Sunday. A beautiful summery day. Family and time away from the computer. I am sure you did too. Or I truly hope that's what happened to you.

I kept thinking about the fruit papillotes we ate for dinner last night and over the last few weeks though. I thought that you'd like to know about how tasty they were. How easy and quick they are to prepare. I had even told about my fruit papillotes to my neighbor A. when she kindly dropped by one day to give a few black raspberries to Lulu. "They are the first of the year," she had added when she held her hand filled with berries in front of me. I had felt touched that she had come to share the first crop with us. So I'd promised that I'd write about the fruit papillotes. A similar recipe was even going to be inside my book, but then there wasn't enough room.

My inspiration for fruit papillotes woke up again in May. After I found a strikingly colorful and beautiful recipe of fruit papillote in the May and June issue of the French magazine Elle à table . I knew that I'd find many ways to interpret the dessert. With different fruit. Other accents. Yet keeping the same idea: have the flavored fruit steam in its own juice inside a pouch in the oven. Preparing a papillote is very simple. Making a fruit papillote just as well. Here's how I did it. Toss plenty of mixed pieces of seasonal fruit with a little sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon balm for accented aromas. Let rest, wrap the fruit with its juice inside a large piece of parchment paper, and then cook in a warm oven for 20 minutes. Have the house filled with the aromas of vanilla-scented fruit and sugar. Open the papillote and add one or two scoops of lavender ice cream, or yogurt, right in the middle of the papillote. Relax. Enjoy the beauty of summer scents. Hard to resist, non?

On another note, many thanks to Nikki from Menuism.com for this interview. And to the Lithuanian magazine Lamuslenis for this feature (see page 162 to 174).

Summer fruit papillotes with lavender ice cream

For 4 peopleYou need:

4 apricots, cored and halved
12 sour cherries, pitted and halved
12 Rainier cherries, pitted and halved
12 red raspberries
12 black raspberries
12 mulberries (or black currant)
12 small strawberries, hulled and halved
1/4 cup blond cane sugar
2 vanilla beans, split open and seeds scraped out
12 lemon balm leaves, finely cut with a scissor
Vanilla ice cream or Lavender ice cream

Steps:

In a bowl, toss gently the apricots, cherries, raspberries, mulberries and strawberries with the sugar and vanilla seeds. Let rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 F and have four 15 by 15-inch pieces of parchment paper ready.
Place one piece of parchment paper in front of you and arrange the fruit in the middle. Ideally, you will have 1 apricot, 8 cherries, 8 raspberries, 4 mulberries and 4 strawberries in each papillote. Add 1/2 vanilla bean and 3 lemon balm leaves.
Fold the papillote secure--lengthwise first and then at each end. Repeat with the other three and place them on a large baking sheet.
Bake the papillotes for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting the top open with a pair of scissors. Add 1 scoop of vanilla (or lavender) ice cream in the middle and enjoy immediately.

47 Comments

marie anne · July 13, 2011
Qu"est ce que tu me regales les mirettes avec tes photos. Merci!
Pia · July 13, 2011
Bea, your blog is a thing of utter beauty! It looks like summer, and smells of fruits and flowers. I have a little girl, who is also two. And just like you, every morning I plan our day together - a picnic, a walk by the river, a game in the garden, a cake in the kitchen. It's such a good time, isn't it? I'm very new to blogging, but I'm so glad to have found a place where recipes and life can come together.
Gen · July 17, 2011
Magnifique mise en valeur! Les papillotes c'est une idée simple mais qui fait apprécier le goût des fruits!
Béa · July 18, 2011
Merci merci à tous ! Thank you.
WIlliam WIdmaier · July 11, 2011
Very hard to resist!
la domestique · July 11, 2011
Ah summer fruits are so beautiful! Thanks for sharing the papillote.
Sara · July 11, 2011
As always, your pictures are simply stunning. Like Minna, I, too, am wondering where I can get some of those fabulous spoons!
Molly · July 10, 2011
I love the idea of summer wrapped up like a present, and then opening it up and having its sweet aromas waft around the kitchen. A true gift of the season.
Lisa · July 10, 2011
Absolutely stunning! I love fish papillotes but never thought of fruit ones!
Catherine · July 10, 2011
Now I have a recipe with which to use lemon balm from my garden.
christelle is flabbergasting · July 10, 2011
J'avais moi aussi craqué pour cette recette de papillote dans le Elle à Table ! Et j'ai moi aussi profité de mon dimanche... loin de l'ordinateur... mais pas trop loin de la cuisine, occupée à préparer des glaces ! Et encore une fois, mais ça fait jamais de mal de le répéter : il y a beaucoup trop de belles photos dans ce billet ! ;) (je suis particulièrement fan de la composition avec toutes les petites photos en entrée de ton billet... tout ça avait l'air terriblement bon et estival !)
Joy · July 10, 2011
Haha I'm glad you enjoyed sunday! Great recipe :)
Anja · July 10, 2011
just mouthwatering, like always.
Miya · July 19, 2011
If I can't find lemon balm, could I replace it with mint and lemon zest? Would Whole Foods have lemon balm?
Béa · July 19, 2011
Miya, Mint or even lemon thyme would be good.
Vanille · July 17, 2011
Ah, l'été !... Difficile en effet de rester devant un écran d'ordinateur quand toute la nature nous appelle... Et ton billet est une véritable explosion de couleurs et saveurs à l'image de l'été !
anna · July 14, 2011
oh so delicious! and the ice cream?? wonderful.
Dana · July 11, 2011
Beautiful post! Very curious about the lemon balm. Where can I find it?
meg jones · July 11, 2011
absolutely gorgeous!
Minna · July 11, 2011
Do you know any online shops where to get those beautiful spoons?
Miss Giny / Au Pays des Merveilles · July 11, 2011
Trop trop jolies toutes ces photos ! ♥
Dominique (De vous à moi...) · July 11, 2011
Toujours autant de belles photos, de plaisir à te lire... une belle fraicheur estivale! Bises à Lulu!
Maureen · July 11, 2011
I can never get enough of your photographs. I get to the end of your post and wish it could have gone on longer. Enjoy your days with your family. Life's short.
Lumir de Voyage Gourmand · July 11, 2011
C'est très beau, comme toujours, et toujours merveilleusement coloré! Le champ qui s'étend sans fin fait rêver... Je vais très certainement faire ces summer fruit papillotes, elles ont l'air vraiment délicieuses!
Lucia · July 11, 2011
It has been a nice Sunday. I've been reading while the wind was blowing, and as I was alone for dinner I relaxed eating outside. A sweet heirloom tomato, a nice mint frittata, and a fresh juicy peach. Though, I wish I had your fruit papillotes for dessert. Next time :-)
Mr Cravate · July 11, 2011
Your pictures are wondeful. Congratulation.
Kit · July 11, 2011
We made black raspberries into sorbet on Sunday (hand-cranked the old fashioned way, no less)... so happy to see them included in your post. They are beautiful and delicious and unique, aren't they?
Snippets of Thyme · July 11, 2011
That looks like such a fun dessert. My teen daughter is having her best friend in the world over for the weekend. We've moved states so they don't get to see each other regularly anymore. This is would be lovely and sweet to make for the girls. Thank you for your beautiful photos. Its like eye candy!
Golubka · July 11, 2011
So stunning. I am in love with the first photo, thanks for sharing.
Amy Travis · July 11, 2011
Wow, the fruit papillotes look wonderful!! Can't wait to make these myself!
Nathalie (spacedlaw) · July 11, 2011
Une fête pour les yeux.
Bev Weidner · July 11, 2011
See, if I were you, I'd wear those gorgeous table clothes as capes. Okay so I wouldn't do that. But you'd get away with it. Capes, think about it. Lulu would diiiiig it!
Shelby · July 11, 2011
Soooo lovely and refreshing... there is nothing like seasonal fruit of summer, what a heavenly gift... Great Recipes, Thank You!
Epicurea · July 11, 2011
right now, there are so many berries and ripe fruit around everywhere that sometimes i seem to be running out of ideas what to make with them. thanks for the inspiration - now we can have a whole meal with them!
Rose D., Frenchtown, NJ · July 11, 2011
Absolutely lovely! ~cheers, rose
nadia · July 11, 2011
oh beautiful bea, what poetry in food! it is all so gorgeous. we had guessed and using the fruit we ha d just picked i prepared, galettes, crumbles and scented baked fruit to pout over ice cream. what jewels the season brings. beautiful bea, the mosaic should be a post card!
Caroline @ chocolate and carrots · July 11, 2011
Absolutely gorgeous!
apranzoconbea · July 11, 2011
this post has the secret feeling of summer as I see it...beautiful, inspiring, dreamy...
Marla · July 11, 2011
Had not thought to do fruit in parchment - have always prepared fish & veggies like this. Must try!
Katy from DiningwithDusty · July 11, 2011
Love the way you capture summer and its glorious offerings! I also love those Sundays spent relaxing and away from the computer!
mademarian · July 13, 2011
Simply bursting with gorgeous-ness... I'd never heard of black raspberries before, are they a variety or very ripe ones? Do they taste similar to red ones?
Giannina · July 13, 2011
Wow this is so ingenious! I used to think cooking in paper only worked for fish! :)
Elodie Jane Amora · July 16, 2011
Those fresh fruits just look amazing! So perfect! :)
Neil Butterfield · July 16, 2011
Wow your pictures really do justice to this blog. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the pictures.
Le Rocher · July 16, 2011
Everything looks just soooo wonderful!
doyoudoux · July 12, 2011
Tes photos sont toujours aussi belles... Merci !
Emma · July 12, 2011
I used to eat lemon balm by the handful out of my friend's garden when little. If only I still had access to it! Funny, I also have clear memories of searching for black raspberries with the same friend in some woods nearby our homes. I hope Lulu enjoyed the berries! Yum, mulberry tart:)