Is there anything which captures the dreamy days of summer better than stone fruit? I love them all - richly red juicy plums, sweet nectarines, fragrant peaches - their lusciousness matches the golden light of late summer.

As a seasonal fruit, they really do embody the sweetness and flavour that everybody seems to crave in summer time. This recipe uses a medley of any stone fruit you may have in the fruit bowl which needs using up - and layers it with densely chocolatey rawnola (a raw version of granola) and creamy coconut yogurt.

I happened to have plums and nectarines in my fruit basket this morning, and in order to empty out the larder ahead of this week’s organic fruit & veggie delivery, thought I’d turn them into a rather scrumptious breakfast. It’s a super simple recipe that is actually quite quick to prepare - so it’s perfect for these late summer weekends.

The rawnola recipe can be varied according to whatever seed combination you prefer and have to hand. I’ve recently stumbled across the most delicious produce at the Boroondara Farmers Market, from a Grampians based farmer who I reckon grows the very best oats outside of Scotland (she laughed at my description), as well as incredible chick peas, hemp seeds & heavenly light spelt flour. (I’m one of her best customers, haha!) If you are in Melbourne, and are able to get to this bi-monthly market, make a bee-line straight for the Farmer’s Sister to stock up on her scrumptious cereals. (She’s happy to fill customer’s own jars or containers - so that’s a win on the zero-waste goals too.)

One of her products is a mix of 6 seeds - including Gold + Brown Flaxseeds, Buckinis, Chia, Pepitas and Hulled Hemp Seed - and I used this in my rawnola. It’s super yummy and a really good combo of flavours and textures. But you can use any mix of these sorts of seeds that you already have in your pantry to create a very more-ish rawnola.

A lot of recipes for rawnola use coconut oil - but my son doesn’t like the taste of coconut oil (except in curry dishes), so I use almond oil instead. The flavour goes very well with the cacao - a bit like a scorched almond really!

ROASTED STONE FRUIT & RAWNOLA PARFAIT

RAWNOLA

1 cup pitted dates

1 tablespoon hot water

¼ cup almond butter

1 tablespoon cold-pressed almond oil

1 tablespoon cacao

1 tablespoon cacao nibs 

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup buckini or roasted buckwheat grouts

½ cup your choice of hemp seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds or flax seeds (any combination)

• Place dates, hot water and almond butter in food processor and blitz until a paste forms. 

• Add almond oil and cacao and blitz again till combined.  

• Add remaining ingredients to food processor and pulse until just combined. 

• Press into a lined tray and place in freezer to set while you make the grilled stone fruits. 

GRILLED STONE FRUIT

2 cups roughly sliced stone fruits (plums, nectarine or peaches)

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon ground vanilla or vanilla essence

• Arrange fruit on a baking tray so it’s a single layer. 

• Sprinkle ground vanilla beans (or essence) over and drizzle with maple syrup. 

• Place under a hot grill until just starting to caramelise (about 5 minutes). 

ASSEMBLE THE PARFAIT

Rawnola, broken into small chunks

Grilled stone fruit

Coconut yogurt

• Place alternating layers of fruit, yogurt and rawnola in tall parfait glasses, finishing with a dollop of yogurt. 

• Arrange a small chunk of rawnola on the top of the yogurt, and garnish with fresh berries or chopped mint. 

(Remaining rawnola will keep in the freezer for a couple of weeks - if it doesn’t get nibbled up before that!)