Food Ingredients Fruits Berries 23 Dreamy Berry Desserts From sorbets and pies to cobblers and cakes, these berry desserts are sure to please. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 18, 2023 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle This collection of dessert recipes celebrates berries, whether ripe and in-season or preserved at their prime in the freezer. From pavlovas to cakes, sorbets, cobblers, and pies, we have a dessert for every occasion, regardless of what plump berries you happen to have on hand. Wondering what to do with a couple pints of fresh cherries? A batch of warm, flaky Cherry Empanadillas might be just the thing, or perhaps a baking dish filled to the brim with bubbling Polenta Cherry Cobbler. For a more refreshing end to a summer meal, look no further than Fany Gerson's tart and fragrant Raspberry-Hibiscus Sorbet or Tyler Malek's intensely flavored Boysenberry Oat Milk Sherbet. Whether you're inspired from a pick-your-own farm stand or eyeing a bag in the frozen section, revel in the flavor of berries with one of these fantastic desserts. 01 of 23 Sour Cherry Pie Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Almond and sour cherries have complementary flavor profiles; together, they create a delicious and elegant pie with perfect flavor balance. The frangipane and sour cherries give the pie a tender and custard-y filling with a pop of tartness and textures. Sour cherry season is fleeting, so be sure to make this pie while the fruit is around. (If you're yearning for an off-season sour cherry pie, feel free to use canned sour cherries.) Get the Recipe 02 of 23 Cherry Empanadillas Farrah Skeiky This delicious cherry filling will convince you that empanadillas aren't just for savory fillings. These empanadillas are fried until golden brown, then glitzed up with a pretty pink glaze. If you don't have a cherry pitter, a chopstick does a surprisingly good job of removing the pits. Get the Recipe 03 of 23 Polenta Cherry Cobbler Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Kay Clarke A few spoonfuls of polenta add a sunny color and nutty depth to this twist on a classic cherry cobbler. Sour cherries are abundant at farmers markets in the early summer (you'll probably want to use a cherry pitter to make short work of prepping them), and frozen sour cherries are available year round in many supermarkets. Get the Recipe 04 of 23 Boysenberry Oat Milk Sherbet Photo by Adam Friedlander / Food Styling by Pearl Jones Here's a satisfying vegan frozen treat. The base of this delicious sherbet is made with oat milk, which provides a surprisingly smooth texture. The berries are roasted to intensify their flavor and color, then pureed and added to the oat milk base, which turns the sorbet a stunning color. Get the Recipe 05 of 23 Black-and-Blue Pie with Brown Sugar Crumb Victor Protasio Chef and author Nicole Rucker uses huckleberries and blackberries to create this namesake black-and-blue filling, but a mix of any brambleberries and blueberries will do. Rucker crushes a single large handful of the berry filling to help create the perfect saucy consistency. A crumb topping adds texture and helps absorb some of the pie's juices, allowing it to slice cleanly. Get the Recipe 06 of 23 Chocolate-Raspberry Icebox Cake Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver This cake is the answer to summer days when you want to serve a beautiful cake, but it's too hot to turn on the oven. Crushed cookies, fresh raspberries, and layers of tart raspberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream transform into a gorgeous marbled layer cake in about 15 minutes — no frosting required. Get the Recipe 07 of 23 Double-Decker Meringue Cake with Summer Berries Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen The meringue topping expands as this stunning cake bakes, so be careful not to spread it all the way to the edges of the cake batter to make removing the cake from the pan easier. Top with whatever berries are in season at your market, or use your favorite sliced stonefruit. Get the Recipe 08 of 23 Mixed Berry Cornmeal Biscuit Shortcakes Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen For these shortcakes, macerated fresh berries and homemade whipped cream — flavored with vanilla and lemon zest — are served atop a buttery, tender split cornmeal biscuit for a summery dessert. Stacking and patting down the dough as opposed to kneading it helps you avoid overworking and creates layers of flaky, buttery flavor. The addition of cornmeal in the dough adds great texture and flavor to the biscuits. Get the Recipe 09 of 23 St. Louis–Style Cheesecake with Blueberries Johnny Autry Chef Andrae Bopp contributed this stellar recipe to F&W in 2020. Hidden beneath a mound of juicy summer berries (Bopp uses native huckleberries, but blueberries are fine), a thin layer of sweetened sour cream crowns this luscious no-fuss cheesecake based on his great-grandmother’s recipe. Get the Recipe 10 of 23 Lemon Chiffon Cake with Blueberry-Coriander Buttercream Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis Pastry chef Sasha Piligian channels summer vibes to create her show-stopping baked goods, like this epic layer cake. She starts with two flavor-packed components — a tart-sweet Meyer lemon curd for the filling and a coriander-spiced blueberry jam to flavor and tint her fluffy Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. For a final flourish, Piligian embellishes the frosted cake with edible flower petals, mint leaves, pools of glistening blueberry-coriander jam, fresh blueberries, and sliced citrus. Get the Recipe 11 of 23 Strawberry-Buttermilk Cobbler Eva Kolenko A mixture of spelt and almond flours, gently combined with cold butter and creamy buttermilk, creates tender, fluffy biscuits that cover this juicy strawberry cobbler filling. Use the sweetest, best-quality berries from the market; their flavor is the foundation of this seasonal dessert. Get the Recipe 12 of 23 Blueberry Panna Cotta with Blueberry Chia Pudding Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Ali Ramee Pastry chef Paola Velez starts this dessert with blueberry panna cotta, tops it with a blueberry and chia seed pudding, and finishes it with a pile of fresh blueberries for a blueberry trifecta. If you haven't had chia seeds yet, here's a delicious way to give them a try. They add crunchy pops of texture to this creamy dessert, and they're good for you, too. Get the Recipe 13 of 23 Roasted Spiced Cranberry Pie Photo: Victor Protasio / Food Stylist Torie Cox / Prop Stylist Claire Spollen Tart cranberries are roasted with lemongrass and gochugaru (Korean chile flakes) to give this vibrant pie its fruity and fragrant kick. Roasting the cranberries concentrates their flavor and allows you to control their doneness, resulting in juicy, bursting berries in every bite. Thin strips of dried mango plump as they soak up the flavorful juices, giving the filling a pop of tropical brightness. Garnish with a sprinkling of granola just before serving for a crunchy, streusel-like topping. Get the Recipe 14 of 23 Raspberry-Hibiscus Sorbet Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Victoria Granof / Prop Styling by Christine Keely This sorbet by chef and ice cream maker Fany Gerson has a creamy texture thanks to the addition of corn syrup or honey, which increases the sugar content and helps make the final product richer, less icy, and more scoopable. Bright and airy, with the perfect balance of creamy and tart from the raspberries, the sorbet makes for a great palate cleanser. With just the right amount of a floral hit from the hibiscus, this is a super-refreshing summertime treat. Get the Recipe 15 of 23 Summer Fruit Cobbler with Vanilla-Mascarpone Biscuits Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis Let the farmers market be your guide when it comes to this cobbler — any mixture of fresh summer stone fruits and berries can be cooked down to make the perfectly sweet-tart, jammy filling. The tender vanilla-mascarpone biscuits have a shortcake-like texture and a delightfully crunchy top from the turbinado sugar. Get the Recipe 16 of 23 Strawberry Icebox Cake with Maple-Ginger Cream Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Heather Chadduck Hillegas If you love strawberry shortcake, this inspired icebox dessert is for you. Buttery, rich shortbread cookies make an inspired (and easy) base for the cake, layered with plenty of sliced strawberries and a creamy filling with hints of spicy fresh ginger and sweet maple syrup. A topping of strawberries macerated in maple syrup adds a final burst of berry flavor. Get the Recipe 17 of 23 Angel Food Cake with Three-Berry Compote Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle Light and fluffy angel food cake becomes more decadent as it soaks up the sweet juices from a farm-stand-berry compote. Get the Recipe 18 of 23 Strawberries-and-Cream Gelato Cake Victor Protasio With only two ingredients (ripe strawberries and sugar), Jon Snyder’s vivid sorbet explodes with fresh fruit flavor. He layers the sorbet with two different gelatos — sour cream and strawberry — for creaminess and a layered berry flavor. Alternatively, you may whip up the sorbet and save some time and effort by purchasing store-bought gelatos. Or, if convenience is essential, simply use your favorite flavor combinations of store-bought gelatos, ice creams, and sorbets to build the cake using this method. Get the Recipe 19 of 23 Summer Pavlova with Fresh and Grilled Berries Con Poulos 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. Get the Recipe 20 of 23 Summer Berries with Cumin Meringues and Crème Fraîche © Keller + Keller 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. Get the Recipe 21 of 23 Goat Cheese Cake with Mixed Berries Andre Baranowski Goat cheese gives a twist to traditional cheesecake and adds a savory element to this not-too-sweet dessert. Get the Recipe 22 of 23 Summer Berry Tarts © Con Poulos 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. Get the Recipe 23 of 23 Lemon-Thyme Sorbet with Summer Berries © Frances Janisch 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. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit