25 Dessert Recipes Packed with Fresh Summer Fruit

End your warm-weather meals with desserts bursting with peaches, plums, and berries. These 25 seasonal treats are full of seasonal fruits.

By
Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee
Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee
Cecilia is a James Beard Award nominee and author of three cookbooks. Her recipes were chosen as Top 10 of the Year for LA Times 2 years in a row.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
and
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves is a food and beverage writer.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Updated July 17, 2022
14 Dessert Recipes Packed with Fresh Summer Fruit

Simply Recipes

The warm days of summer signals ripe peaches, brightly colored berries, and other gorgeous fruits of the season.

Stone fruits, like nectarines, apricots, peaches, and plums ripen throughout the season. Cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and berries of all types brighten farmers market tables. Watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, and melons of all varieties carry us through the late season. And certain citrus, like lemons and limes, have their second season in summer.

Here are guides to tell you what produce is in season in June, July, and August so you can cook with fresh produce all summer long.

The hot weather and farm-fresh abundance are perfect excuses to take those fruits and turn them into delicious desserts.

Think baked cobblers, fruity pies, tarts, and cakes fresh out of the oven. If you don’t want to turn on the oven, you can also make ice cream, mousse, parfaits, and other no-bake sweets. Whatever you decide, you can have the perfect ending to a celebratory picnic, barbecue with friends, or just an everyday celebration!

  • No Churn Peach Cobbler Ice Cream

    Two homemade peach cobbler ice cream cones are set on either side of a cone with sliced peaches.
    Marta Rivera

    No ice cream maker? No problem! This easy-to-make peach ice cream just requires soft ripe peaches, heavy cream, and just 20 minutes of mixing. The hardest part is finding the patience to wait for it to freeze.

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  • Plum Cobbler

    Plum Cobbler
    Elise Bauer

    Don't let the season pass you by without making this easy and delicious Plum Cobbler recipe. It's a sweet and slightly tart cobbler made with Santa Rosa plums, orange zest, a dash of cinnamon, and a biscuit-like cobbler topping. You'll want to make this dessert all summer long.

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  • Summer Peaches with Baked Meringue

    Baked Peaches Dessert
    Sally Vargas

    This recipe is great if you’re feeling too lazy to make a pie but still want a gorgeous dessert to end a summer party. You can easily substitute fresh apricots, plums, nectarines, or whatever fresh stone fruit happens to be available. The gorgeous meringue on top gives the illusion that you took all day to make the recipe (don’t worry, we won’t tell).

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  • Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

    Strawberry Yogurt Pops
    Sally Vargas

    Healthy, cool and delicious? Yes, please! This recipe is perfect for the kid in all of us! These DIY popsicles are the perfect refreshing finish to a lazy summer day. Made with plain yogurt, you can substitute any ripe summer fruit in place of the strawberries in this recipe.

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    Continue to 5 of 25 below.

  • Apricot Cherry Galette

    Apricot Cherry Galette
    Elise Bauer

    Galettes are so easy to make and require so much less fuss than pie making. This rustic tart gets filled with apricots and cherries that are sweetened with lemon zest and vanilla extract. You don't need much to make a delicious dessert when fresh summer fruits are the star.

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  • Blackberry Cobbler

    Easy Blackberry Cobbler
    Elise Bauer

    Too many berries and no time to bake a pie? Make this easy cobbler instead! The recipe calls for four cups of blackberries, but you can easily substitute, strawberries, blueberries, or even chopped stone fruits, like peaches or plums. It comes together in just 30 minutes!

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  • Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

    Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips
    Elise Bauer

    Sure, adding chocolate to cherry ice cream might be gilding the lily, but let’s fancy up the beautiful, sweet cherries with some dark chocolate for fun. This no-fuss recipe combines pitted cherries, sugar, cream, and bittersweet chocolate with a splash of Amaretto or cherry liqueur, if your heart desires, to make a spectacular dessert.

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  • Old-Fashioned Peach Pie

    Peach Pie
    Cindy Rahe and Elise Bauer

    Nothing beats a classic peach pie to signal the start of summer. Our recipe features a lattice-topped crust, but you can easily make it with a simple crust if you are short on time.

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    Continue to 9 of 25 below.

  • Pavlova with Raspberry Sauce

    Pavlova
    Elise Bauer

    Pavlova, a delicate meringue dessert made from fluffy egg whites named after a Russian ballerina, is the perfect light dessert after a backyard barbecue. Made with pretty simple ingredients, you can top pavlova with any kind of fresh berry in season.

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  • Peach Galette

    Peach Galette
    Elise Bauer

    A galette is a beautiful way to showcase those summer peaches, without a lot of fuss. It combines all of the flavors and textures of a pie without all of the work. If you’re really short on time, you can even use a store-bought pie crust, but don’t let anyone know!

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  • Strawberry Shortcake

    Easy Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
    Elise Bauer

    Homemade strawberry shortcake is easier than you think! This quick recipe combines, fresh berries macerated in sugar and homemade biscuits all topped with fresh whipped cream. What’s not to love?

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  • Easy Panna Cotta

    Panna Cotta with berries and sauce in a round bowl with a spoon.
    Sally Vargas

    A perfect make-ahead dessert for any celebration, this easy-to-make panna cotta can be served with any fresh summer fruit. The recipe calls for berries (red, white, and blue for a Fourth of July celebration), but peaches, plums or stone fruits work as fine substitutes.

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    Continue to 13 of 25 below.

  • Strawberry Mousse with White Chocolate

    Strawberry Mousse with white chocolate
    Sally Vargas

    This is the perfect make-ahead dessert to wow your dinner party guests with. It all comes together with a handful of ingredients—berries, white chocolate, heavy cream, powder sugar, lemon juice, and unflavored gelatin. You’ll want to make it a day ahead to let the mousse chill overnight.

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  • Berry and Banana Terrine

    Berry & Banana Terrine
    Elise Bauer

    Looking for a quick beautiful dessert that doesn’t require you to turn on the stove? Then this colorful terrine is perfect for you! Made with white grape juice and gelatin, this dessert only takes 20 minutes to make. But you’ll want to prepare it in the morning or the night before since you need at least 3 hours for it to set.

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  • Plum Walnut Skillet Cake

    Plum Walnut Skillet Cake
    Sally Vargas

    Got a couple of minutes and a food processor? This earthy, summery plum cake is the quick and easy dessert for you!

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  • Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcake

    Two plates with healthier strawberry shortcake set on a table with white linens. Shortcake is piled with sliced strawberries and whipped yogurt topping. A wire basket of strawberries is to the left of the plates.
    Alison Bickel

    One of early summer's fantastic fruits is strawberries, and you HAVE to make strawberry shortcake at least once when they're in season. This version adds a bit of nutrition to the mix by using whole wheat flour in the shortcake and low-fat Greek yogurt in the whipped cream.

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    Continue to 17 of 25 below.

  • Watermelon Granita

    Two glasses with watermelon granita topped with lemon slice.
    Alison Bickel

    Making a frozen treat doesn't get easier than this watermelon granita. Just throw three ingredients—watermelon, lemon juice, and honey—into a blender and then freeze. The trick to getting the icy texture without it being a block of ice is to scrape it with a fork every hour until done.

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  • Skillet Peach Crisp with Ginger and Pecans

    Skillet Peach Crisp with Ginger and Pecans
    Alison Conklin

    Turn your juicy, ripe farmers market peaches into this quick skillet crisp with oats, pecans, and ginger. Of course, topping with homemade vanilla ice cream is a must!

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  • Ricotta-Mascarpone Mousse with Balsamic Strawberries

    Ricotta-Mascarpone Mousse with Balsamic Strawberries

    Simply Recipes / Annika Panikker

    This dessert looks fancy, but it's super easy—ready in just minutes. Fold together whipped cream, mascarpone, and ricotta then pipe it over strawberries and balsamic that have sat together for a half hour. The flavors together will blow you away!

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  • Blueberry Cake

    Blueberry Cake
    Elise Bauer

    When the farmers markets and grocery stores are overflowing with blueberries, this is a yummy, easy way to use them up. This simple single-layer cake is made with two cups of fresh blueberries. Dust with powdered sugar and serve as dessert (or breakfast, we won't tell!)

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    Continue to 21 of 25 below.

  • Summer Berry Tart

    Berry Tart
    Elise Bauer

    Summer's berry bounty tops a mascarpone and whipped cream filling in a rich all-butter crust. Don't be intimidated. Even novice bakers can make this company-worthy dessert full of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

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  • Blueberry Crumb Bars

    blueberry crumb bars
    Cindy Rahe

    Filled with jammy, sweet blueberries, these bars have the vibe of a blueberry pie cut up into handheld bars. With a shortbread base and a crumb topping, you'll turn to this recipe several times each summer.

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  • Peach Raspberry Pie

    Overhead view of a summer peach and raspberry pie.
    Cambrea Gordon

    The fresh summer fruits take the lead in this pie that is spiced with cinnamon and ginger. Our simple perfect pie crust is divine with this tart seasonal dessert.

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  • Easy Dump Cake From Scratch

    easy blueberry dump cake
    Cindy Rahe

    Fresh fruit and a homemade cake mix come together to make an easy and tasty dessert. Use berries, sliced peaches, sliced apples, or sliced plums, whatever fruit is in season and plentiful.

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    Continue to 25 of 25 below.

  • Bourbon Cherry Crisp

    Bourbon Cherry Crisp with a serving removed from the baking dish.
    Vivian Jao

    Booze up your cherry crisp with a bit of bourbon with oaky, caramel, and vanilla notes. Both dark, sweet Bing cherries and bright red tart cherries work well in this crisp that's topped with oats, sliced almonds, and brown sugar.

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