19 Dreamy Berry Desserts to Make All Season

By Food & Wine
Updated July 23, 2018
Credit: © Kamran Siddiqi
Berry cakes, berry compotes, berry sorbets, berry everything! Revel in every single one of these berry-centric desserts.
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Skillet Biscuits with Berries

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This tart and super fruity summer dessert cooks mostly on the stovetop, with just a quick finish under the broiler to caramelize the biscuits.

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Mixed Berry Spoon Cake

Credit: LUCY SCHAEFFER
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To vary the filling here, use 4 pounds of stone fruit (peaches, nectarines and apricots) cut into large wedges.

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Guest-at-the-Doorstep Apple-Berry Charlotte

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Classic Soviet cuisine abounded in nifty quick recipes for unexpected guests. This puffy dessert requires only sliced tart apples, a few handfuls of berries and a simple batter.

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Summer Pavlova with Fresh and Grilled Berries

Credit: © Con Poulos
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Instead of piling this pillowy Pavlova with just fresh berries, Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple grills some of the berries in a packet, so they get deliciously juicy.

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Lemon-Thyme Sorbet with Summer Berries

Credit: © Frances Janisch
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Endlessly versatile, flavored syrups can be churned with ingredients like pureed fruit, fruit juice or fresh herbs in an ice cream machine to make sorbet. Jean-Georges Vongerichten first developed this breezy lemon-thyme ice for F&W, then started serving it as a special at his Mercer Kitchen in Manhattan's Mercer hotel. "Lemon-thyme, that's my guy," Vongerichten says. "I would use rosemary too."

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Goat Cheese Cake with Mixed Berries

Credit: © Andre Baranowski
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Goat cheese gives a twist to traditional cheesecake and adds a savory element to this not-too-sweet dessert.

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Berry-Yogurt Pavlovas with Chamomile-Lavender Syrup

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Aromatherapists take advantage of the calming powers of both chamomile and lavender. Melissa Rubel Jacobson steeps the flowers in a syrup for antioxidant-rich berries.

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Black Pepper-Raspberry Sorbet with Prosecco

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A light and boozy dessert? We’ll allow it.

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Mixed Berry Snack Bars

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This berry filling is tart and fruity, and superbly balanced by the crisp, buttery shortbread crust.

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Lemon-Poppy Polenta Cookie and Huckleberry Sorbet Sandwiches

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Because Mary Ellen Carroll and Donna Wingate happened to find plump huckleberries right before the ICA dinner, they decided to make sorbet and turn their lemon-poppy polenta cookies into whimsical sandwiches. Any tart store-bought sorbet (like raspberry, blood orange or lemon) would be delicious with these cookies as well.

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Free-Form Pineapple, Mango and Berry Tarts

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"Rio Negro is like the Garden of Eden, with fruit trees everywhere," Piero Incisa della Rocchetta says about the region in Patagonia where he makes wine. Local chef Mauricio Couly created these tarts filled with local fruits like pineapple, mango and blueberries that grow around Bodega Chacra. The filling can, of course, vary depending on the season.

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Mixed Berry Hobo Packs with Grilled Pound Cake

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Berries grilled in a foil pack are delicious with everything from ice cream to grilled pound cake.

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Mixed-Berry Dutch Baby

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A Dutch Baby, also known as a German pancake, is a mixture of eggs, flour and whole milk that gets baked in a heavy skillet until it becomes puffy and golden. In the terrific version here, Grace Parisi folds in fresh berries to create a wonderful summer dessert that's also great for breakfast.

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Summer Berries with Cumin Meringues and Crème Fraîche

Credit: Keller + Keller
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This recipe combines antioxidant-packed summer berries with an easy-to-make, protein-rich meringue. A touch of cumin gives the meringues an exotic earthiness, but they're equally delicious without the spice.

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Berry Vinegar Tart


Credit: Con Poulos
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In this clever riff on lemon pie, Food & Wine’s Laura Rege fills a crunchy graham cracker crust with a sweet and tangy curd made with blackberry vinegar, fresh raspberries and a hint of virgin coconut oil. It’s ideal for anyone who enjoys a dessert with some pucker.

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Summer Berry Tarts

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Excellent-quality puff pastry (F&W likes the Dufour brand) makes all the difference to this minimalist fruit dessert. Berries simmered in a little sugar become a slightly gooey, fresh-tasting topping.

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Hibiscus-Berry Gelatins

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A lovely way to serve raspberries, blackberries and blueberries: suspended in a hibiscus gelatin.

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Angel Food Cake with Three-Berry Compote

Credit: Roy Zipstein
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Angel food cake is virtually fat-free--it's made with egg whites but no yolks--yet becomes more decadent as it soaks up the sweet juices from a farm-stand-berry compote. Hugo Matheson and Kimbal Musk add, "Don't forget that egg shells are great in compost."

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Party Cake with Whipped Cream and Raspberries

Credit: © Kamran Siddiqi
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This simple, deliciously moist cake from baker and cookbook author Kamran Siddiqi is the perfect all-purpose cake that can be adorned in almost any way.

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