From lighter fare to over-the-top indulgence, summer desserts can offer your bakery’s guests a refreshing change of pace.

 

A number of retail bakeries now sell house-made granola, which becomes a perfect pairing in the summer time to create yogurt-granola parfaits. According to Mintel, more than half of adults in the United States eat yogurt an average of 7.5 times per month.

 

Paradise Bakery offers yogurt and granola parfaits on its breakfast menu. The parfaits are topped with fresh strawberries.

 

On the flip side, ice cream donuts are the new decadent version of a summer dessert for bakeries to capitalize on.

 

One recent example comes from Tampa, Florida, retailer Dough, which is now offering its version of Doughnut Ice Cream Cones on a permanent basis. Dough's version of the deep-fried spirals are made fresh daily and served while supplies last. Each week, Dough fills its flaky cone with a different donut-flavored soft serve ice cream. Each new flavor is announced on Monday via social media. 

 

The candy-coated sister to iconic Tampa restaurant Datz, Dough has been riding a sugar high of sweet success since opening in 2012.

 

For its Florida debut, the Doughnut Ice Cream Cones are filled with swirls of house-made jelly donut-flavored ice cream. Toppings include bacon caramel popcorn, cotton candy, whipped cream, and a cherry.

 

This adventurous alternative to the classic cone is credited to Good Food Coffee and Bakery cafe in Prague, whose fried sensation went viral in February, drawing the attention of foodies on social media platforms and major news outlets. These specific desserts are inspired by the Czech trdelník and include a cone made from donut dough and a Nutella lining, topped with soft serve ice cream.

 

And the ice cream donut trend is catching on elsewhere.

 

Jeanne Bolger, director of research and development for Baskin-Robbins, a business unit of Canton-based Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc., experiments daily with ice cream flavors and ingredients. The ice cream chain also is testing a Donut Ice Cream Sandwich in select markets this summer. The item includes a sweet scoop and hot fudge between a halved powdered sugar donut.

 

“A lot of thought goes into every ingredient we put into a new ice cream flavor, including what the ice cream base flavor should be, as well as what inclusions and ribbons to add,” Bolger told Food Business News, a sister publication to bake magazine. “We want to make sure all of the different components of the ice cream flavor go together, both in terms of flavor and texture. Sometimes we start with a specific end goal in mind, for instance creating an ice cream flavor that tastes like tiramisu, and other times we experiment with a range of different ingredients to try to come up with something completely new.”