60 Beautiful Berry Desserts That You'll Want to Eat All Summer
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Summer is berry season. First come strawberries, then raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. But before heading to the grocery store, keep these points in mind: The fresher the berries, the better they'll taste, so buy locally grown berries or, if you get the chance, pick them yourself at a farm. And choose organic berries if possible.
When you bring berries home, don't wash them—moisture on the surface encourages mold. Instead, sort through the berries: pick out any mushy ones, carefully pat dry any moisture on the berries, and store them in a clean, dry container. Berries don't have a long shelf life, so they are best used within a day or two after purchase. Rinse berries just before eating—or using in any of our delicious berry dessert recipes ahead.
Cobblers and crisps are some of the best ways to use pints of farm fresh berries. A sweet oat topping gets heavily sprinkled atop a jammy filling of macerated berries, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice in this classic Blueberry Crisp. A Raspberry Buckle is somewhere in between a bread pudding, cake, and cobbler, and we're totally here for it. Our Blackberry Crumbles are miniature, individual desserts, and they're great for those times when you want to serve a slightly more elegant treat to a group of guests, like when you're throwing a dinner party.
We also love an updated twist on a classic childhood favorite. While strawberry shortcake never disappoints, why not try these Gingered Blackberry and Black Plum Shortcakes or Almond-Cornmeal Strawberry Shortcakes? With these recipes in your back pocket, you'll enjoy berries throughout the summer.
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Lemon Shortcakes with Basil Berries
This light, crumbly shortcake soaks up the sweet juices from blueberries and raspberries that are tossed with lemon juice, sugar, and fresh basil. If you don't have a food processor, make these shortcakes with a pastry cutter.
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Naked Berry Chiffon Cake
When there's an occasion really worth celebrating, make this layered, airy chiffon cake with a lightweight whipped cream. Despite its show-stopping appearance, the cake is incredibly delicate; fresh edible flowers and mixed berries are the picture-perfect finish.
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Chiffon Cake with Strawberries and Cream
This light-as-a-feather cake gets its airiness from egg whites and cake flour. It's filled with quartered strawberries and a light whipped cream filling for a fresh, natural sweetness.
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Raspberry Cobbler
If you have an abundance of fresh raspberries, this is the recipe for you: The filling of slightly syrupy, macerated berries is gets topped with flaky biscuits. Brush the top of the biscuits with heavy cream before baking for true Southern flair.
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Two-Berry Tart
Two types of berries are better than one. A mound of strawberries and raspberries sit atop decadent pastry cream. The tart shell can be made in advance and frozen if you want to get a head start on summer entertaining prep.
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Very Berry Ice Pops
Layer raspberry and blackberry purées for a color-block look in these refreshing pops. Using rocket-style molds makes them look like a classic ice cream truck purchase but trust us, the taste is so much better. (This is a versatile recipe, use whatever popiscle molds you have and feel free to sub in other berry purées.)
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Strawberry Icebox Pie
If you were over-enthusiastic when you went strawberry picking and have more berries than you could ever possibly use, this is the recipe for you. It calls for two quarts of fresh strawberries that make a vibrant filling for this graham-cracker crust pie.
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Pavlova Wreath with Berries and Créme Fraîche
Sugar-coated mixed berries lay lightly atop a creamy filling of crème fraîche and whipped cream. The wreath is a festive stunner, but feel free to make individual shells for serving as well.
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Berry-Granola Parfait Pops
Dessert or breakfast? These parfait pops do double duty. They're made with Greek yogurt, honey, chopped mixed berries, and granola so you could enjoy a popiscle for breakfast on the go! Another bonus: They're super easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for them to freeze before you eat one!
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Berry Sorbet
One of the most refreshing summertime desserts, this sorbet is also simple to make. All you need are four cups of fresh raspberries, sugar, and water. Prep takes just five minutes then the sorbet needs a few hours to firm up in the freezer before you can scoop it.
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Berry Layer Cake
This supremely beautiful berry layer cake is piped with swirls and twirls of black raspberry jam buttercream and topped with fresh berries. Save this for when you really want to impress your dinner guests.
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Pull-Apart Vanilla-Wafer Cupcake Cake with Berries
Want the look of a sheet cake and the ease of cupcakes? This crowd-friendly dessert brings the best of both worlds. Another bonus: There's no need to decorate each cupcake, simply smooth vanilla buttercream over the top of the dessert and garnish with mixed berries.
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Double-Crust Berry Free-Form Pie
Chock full of fresh blackberries and raspberries, this pie feeds a crowd. And because it's free-form, there's no worry about having the right size of pie plate—this 14-serving pie is cooked on a baking sheet. If there is any leftover, we hear it's also really good for breakfast!
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Summer Pudding
Cut into this classic summer pudding and watch as colorful berries cascade onto the plate. This no-bake English dessert uses white bread as its base and the bread absorbs the tart juices and bright hibiscus color of the berries.
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Blueberry Lattice Pie
About as classic as it gets, that's this traditional blueberry pie with an intricate lattice topping. Ice water and cold butter is key to getting a super flaky pie crust with several buttery layers.
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Martha's Buttermilk-Blueberry Tart with Walnut Crust
Fresh blueberries are all the decoration this creamy, tangy dessert needs. The nut crust used for the tart shell is made with walnuts and flour rather than the usual graham cracker base.
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Berry Frangipane Phyllo Tart
Blackberries, blueberries, or raspberries work well in the filling of this phyllo tart. The berries are added into the creamy, hazelnut frangipane right before baking. Just before serving, a layer of powdered sugar provides an extra-pretty finish.
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Filled Fourth of July Strawberries
For a fancy two-bite dessert, try these ripe strawberries filled with sweetened cream cheese. They're also a yummy way to entice kids to munch on the fruit.
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French Fruit Tart
When you taste this tart, you may say there's a certain je ne sais quoi to it. Every layer has something special; melted white chocolate is brushed on the crust, sour cream is mixed into a traditional pastry custard, and warm apricot jam is drizzled over the fresh berry garnish.
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Strawberry-Lemonade Icebox Pie
Call this a streamlined take on the lemon meringue pie. A basic graham cracker crust serves as the shell for a decadent lemony filling that relies on egg yolks and condensed milk for creaminess. Top with meringue and macerated strawberries for a luscious dessert all summer.
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Blueberry Tart
A dessert for die-hard blueberry fans, this tart calls for six cups of fresh berries. Some are macerated with lemon juice and sugar then mixed with fresh berries for the filling.
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Banana, Berry, and Buttermilk Popsicles
Use a blend of berries for a pop of patriotic color in these sugar-free popsicles. Your choice of honey or agave syrup adds sweetness to the naturally tart berries.
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Blueberry–Cream Cheese Hand Pies
You can make these hand pies with frozen blueberries out of season, but when you have an abundance of fresh summer blueberries, you'll want to make them again—they're perfect for picnics.
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Blueberry "Bandanna" Tart
This dessert combines two quintessentially American icons—the bandana and the blueberry pie. Use any shaped cookie cutter you want for the peep-hole pie crust, though we love Martha's interpretation of a classic paisley handkerchief.
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Firecracker Ice Pops
Fourth of July party-goers will love these patriotic pops. And for the cook, they're an easy way to utilize fresh strawberries and blueberrues in a treat that captures their natural color and flavor.
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Strawberry Ice Cream
Homemade ice cream just might be the ultimate summertime dessert—and this recipe takes only 20 minutes to make. Of course, then you need to wait until it freezes firm. Take that time to plan how you'll scoop it?
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Berries-and-Cherries Ice Cream Cake
It's all about the assembly (and the chilling) with this dessert: macerate raspberries, blackberries, and cherries in vodka and sugar, then fold them into cherry ice cream and vanilla ice cream that form the layers atop a chocolate wafer cookie base, then cover the cake in melted dark chocolate.
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Strawberry Tart
If the presentation of this fragrant tart doesn't lure you in, then the combination of juicy strawberries and sweet, airy cream cheese filling should do the trick.
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Blackberry Crisp
One of the easiest ways to celebrate summer berries is with a crisp. This blackberry version uses five pints of berries beneath the simple butter-sugar-flour topping.
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Bourbon-and-Brown-Sugar Cake with Berries
An easy-going cake that doesn't need any frosting, the juicy berries on the surface are all the decoration that's needed.
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Striped Ice Pops
Pink lemonade, apricot nectar, grape juice, and fresh raspberry purée are the key ingredients in these colorful striped popsicles. For a boozy twist that adults will love, add a splash of raspberry liqueur like Chambord to the raspberry mixture before freezing.
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Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake
Freshly-grated lemon zest adds a subtle zing that beautifully accents the sweet, tart blueberries in this Bundt. The cake is made with sour cream that adds fat and moistness but keeps the texture light.
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Pressure-Cooker Raspberry Upside-Down Cake
When it's too hot to bake, turn on the pressure cooker or multi cooker to make this cheery, raspberry-topped cake.
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Chocolate-Raspberry Tart
Rich and decadent but surprisingly fast to make, that's this chocolate-lovers' tart. The shell is made with chocolate wafers or graham crackers and the filling is a velvety chocolate ganache. Raspberries go on top just before serving.
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Lemon-Basil Custard Pie with Red Berries
A few handfuls of raspberries, strawberries, and elderberries tossed in sugar rest atop a chilled custard infused with lemon basil. The herb, with its citrusy note, brightens the silky, rich filling of this beautiful pie.
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Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry shortcake is a dessert classic and for good reason. Macerated strawberries soak into flaky biscuits for layers of sweet syrup throughout. Wondering how to get that perfectly shaped biscuit? Use a half-cup measuring scoop to gather and pack the dough, no rolling or cutting needed.
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Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle
An easy, make-ahead, crowd-pleasing dessert—what's not to like about this raspberry-blueberry trifle? Swap in strawberries for the raspberries if you prefer.
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Mixed Berry Salad with Mint
Serve this fruit salad as a light, refreshing dessert after a big barbecue dinner or enjoy it as an elegant upgrade to your usual fruit salad. Fresh mint, a sprinkle of sugar, and a splash of Grand Marnier enhances the natural sweetness of the berries.
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Raspberry-Ripple Meringue
Pink swirls of raspberry are folded through this cloudlike meringue that's topped with whipped cream and more berries.
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Almond-Cornmeal Strawberry Shortcakes
Here's a delicious update on the classic shortcake; cornmeal and almonds are added to the flour mixture to create a fine crumbly texture that soaks up the juices from macerated strawberries.
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Raspberry-Lemon Whoopie Pies
A summery take on a childhood classic. Mashed raspberries are folded into fresh whipped cream for a bright pink filling to sandwich between the lemony "pies."
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Blueberry Bonanza Bars
Almond, coconut, and honey granola make for a sweet, crunchy topping on these jammy blueberry bars.
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Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
When you're pressed for time but need a berry dessert, there's this four-ingredient wonder. It's made with storebought cake and ice-cream, plus raspberries and confectioners' sugar. Best of all, it comes together in 15 minutes.
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Blackberry Puffs
Baked, buttery puff pastry serves as an easy and delicious shell for juicy blackberries and creamy mascarpone cheese.
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Strawberry Cake
Vanilla cake gets a summery upgrade with the addition of strawberries. Our pro tip to prevent the strawberries from sinking to the bottom of the cake is to toss them in a couple of tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
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Blueberries with Maple Whipped Cream
Combining maple syrup with sour cream and heavy cream creates a sweet, slightly smoky foil for tart blueberries. This combination is delicious served on its own, or atop ice cream, blueberry pie, and even pancakes.
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Vanilla-Roasted Peaches with Raspberries
Fresh raspberries are the finishing touch for this peach dessert that's all about celebrating summer fruit. Raspberries and peaches also star in an easy oat cobbler and a delicious galette.
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Blueberry Crisp
Some like oats in their crisp topping and some don't. We're firmly in the add-the-oats camp with this extra juicy crisp that calls for six cups of blueberries.
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Blackberry Fools
This creamy dessert may have an unusual name, but the flavor of this light blackberry pudding is really what will grab your guests' attention. It's the perfect cool taste at the end of a hot summer day.
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Strawberry Cream Cake
A simple vanilla layer cake starts this impressive dessert. While it's baking, berries are tossed with granulated sugar. The whipped cream filling is mixed with gelatin, a test-kitchen tip to help it keep its shape.
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Raspberry Buckle
A cousin of crisps and cobblers, a buckle is a classic American fruit dessert that's topped with a delectable streusel. While buckles are traditionally made with blueberries, we love using the abundance of seasonal raspberries for a sweeter taste.
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Gingered Blackberry and Black Plum Shortcakes
We're all for a seasonal twist on an uber classic recipe. Blackberry and plum are unexpected but inspired pairing in these flaky layered shortcakes.
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Fruit Pie with Crumb Topping
A buttery crumble topping gives this blueberry pie a rustic look—and who doesn't love crumb pie?
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Blackberry Crumb Bars
Imagine a blondie topped with a delicious coffee cake crumble. Then add the season's freshest, most vibrant berries. Need we say more?
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Cream Puffs with Lemon Mousse and Blueberry Sauce
Silky blueberry sauce and light, creamy lemon mousse are layered between choux puffs for a summery bite. Save time by making the cream puffs in advance, then freezing them for up to one month.