Many people spread jam on their toast. But in the summer season, why not use fresh berries instead?

Pair those berries with your favorite dairy spread: cottage cheese, cream cheese, crème fraîche, fromage blanc, fromage frais/quark, goat cheese, mascarpone, sour cream, yogurt.

In France, these would be called tartines: open-face sandwiches.

You don’t have to toast the bread. Toast adds crunch and texture, but if fresh-baked bread is calling to you, enjoy it straight from the loaf.

You can also enjoy these tartines as a snack. They’re just right for a mid-afternoon tea break.

RECIPE: FRUIT TOAST / BREAKFAST TARTINES

Ingredients

Who needs jam when you have fresh fruit? Photo courtesy Vermont Creamery.

1. Choose some delicious bread: date nut bread, Irish soda bread, multigrain, peasant bread, pumpernickel, raisin bread, rye, sourdough, spelt, whole grain or other bread with great flavor and texture.

You can also use crispbread, like Wasa. Mild breads like challah, English muffins and white bread are best left to another occasion. See the different types of bread.

2. Pick your dairy product: cottage cheese, cream cheese, crème fraîche, goat cheese, Greek yogurt, mascarpone, sour cream, quark or other spreadable dairy.

3. Pick your fruit: berries, dates, figs, mandarin or orange segments, mango and sliced stone fruits (apricots, nectarines, peaches, plums) are our favorites.

4. Toast the bread (or not); spread with the dairy, top with the fresh fruit and enjoy. If you need more sweetness, drizzle with honey or cinnamon sugar.

VARIATIONS

 
*Yes, tomatoes are a fruit, but they are eaten a vegetable. Here’s why the tomato is fruit, not veggie.
  

We found this “sundae” on the Smucker’s Facebook page.

Maybe you want a more formal dessert to bring to the table. Or maybe you just want to have fun. Either way:

1. CUT the ice cream sandwich at angles and place in a fancy dish.

2. GARNISH with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, berries, sprinkles, candies (M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, chocolate chunks), whatever.

3. ENJOY the experience.

Want to create an ice cream “mixed grill?” Add a scoop to the center of the “sundae.”

We haven’t liked every fruit squeeze pouch brand we’ve tried. Some of them, even though they’re all natural, don’t taste that way.

But Smucker’s new Fruit-Fulls taste just like the orchard. For 80 calories, they’re a delicious, sweet grab-and-go treat.

Made from Washington State apples, Fruit-Fulls are simple: just pure, sweet blended fruit, essentially applesauce, with no sugar added. The flavors include:

 
All are delicious, although we’re partial to the more complex flavors of Apple Mixed Berry and Apple Strawberry—more fruit flavor.

Fruit-Fulls are available at stores nationwide, packaged in boxes of eight four-ounce pouches. Learn more at Smuckers.com.

Fruit pouches were meant to be enjoyed “from the pouch,” but we used the convenient nozzle to:

 
TIP: Hide these from the kids or there won’t be any left for you.