Grilled fruit skewers

A festive summertime dessert!

You can use any combination of fresh fruit to prepare this dish; just be sure the pieces are sufficiently large and firm enough to stay on the skewers. Strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe  peaches and plums are some of my favourites. Brushing them lightly with a seasoned butter mixture adds a lovely extra dimension of flavour to the fruit. The skewers can be prepared up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated until you are ready to grill them.

Ingredients

• 16 – 24 pieces of fresh fruit, each about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in size
• 8 wooden skewers (use the two-pronged ones if you can find them*)
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) honey or maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) nutmeg

*Note: you can improvise by using two wooden skewers side-by-side, about 1.5 cm (1/2″) apart.

Method

• Thread two to three pieces of fruit on each skewer; place them on a plate or tray as you assemble them and refrigerate if not grilling within the hour.
• When ready to grill them, preheat barbecue to 375F (medium-high heat).
• In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, honey or maple syrup and nutmeg.
• Brush one side of each skewer with the butter mixture; flip the skewers over on the plate or tray and brush the other side.
• Grill for approximately three minutes per side until fruit is just beginning to turn golden brown in places.

Serves 4.