Stone Fruit with Whipped Walnut-Lemon Honey

• Nonstick spray
• 1/2 cup light-colored honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon fine lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon coarse lemon zest / chopped lemon peel*
• 1/3 cup minced California walnuts, lightly toasted
• 2 to 3 pounds fresh summer stone fruit – any combination of peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, pluots, cherries, etc.
• Lovely mint leaves, for garnish

 

Note: There are two kinds of lemon zest preparation in this recipe.

• Fine zest, the best tool for which is a microplane zester.
• Coarse zest (aka “chopped peel,” made by shaving off the yellow part of the lemon skin with a sturdy vegetable peeler, and then chopping that peel with a sharp knife to a small, but textured consistency.

Regardless of which method you use, remember to do the zesting before you do the juicing – otherwise you will be grumpy.

Note about the honey: Lighter-hued honeys tend to be milder in flavor than darker ones. I wanted to keep the flavor subtle here, so have called for a light-colored honey. If you prefer a stronger flavor, go ahead and use a darker honey, it’s your call.