Tomatoes are in, tomatoes have been in. You've possibly gotten tired of tomatoes coming in by now. One way some people are adding a new twist to the summer tomato harvest is by using them in dessert.
If you doubt that tomatoes are great for dessert, you should know that the "Best Bite" award at the Vermont Fresh Network's annual forum rewarded tomato creativity in the form of Sweet-Corn Ice Cream with Tomato Jam, Pesto Cookie and Candied Fennel. These little Best Bite sundaes came from Chef Charlie Menard of The Inn at the Round Barn Farm, but you don't need to aim for quite that fancy if you're playing around with tomato desserts at home. For a starting point, try this sweet Maple Tomato Jam from local recipe developer Claire Fitts.
Claire pairs her jam with basil shortbread. Some other ideas would be to have it with good vanilla ice cream, sweet crepes, scones, almond cookies, or on a croissant. Although they're less common, cornmeal or olive oil based cakes would also be a great pairing, especially with freshly whipped cream.
Other ways of using tomatoes in dessert are tomato sorbet, tomato simple syrup, and candied tomatoes (tomatoes cooked down in a sugar syrup or dipped for a candy coating). I haven't personally come across a Bloody Mary Milkshake yet, but surely that's out there too.
