Favorite Summer Dessert Recipes
Lemon and lime, raspberry and peach, THESE are the flavors of summer!! Not that chocolate and caramel are ever wrong…but somehow the lighter nature of fruit flavors seems to be the perfect refreshing pairing for warmer weather.
Here are the recipes for some of our favorites that we return to again and again…
Lemon Tea Cake
This is an all time favorite that disappears in record time around here. The recipe is easily doubled or tripled and it can be made ahead and frozen too, so you can always have a delish dessert on hand for summer guests! Make it in a loaf or ring for casual slices, or use fancy shaped pans in individual cake sizes for a dinner-party-worthy dessert presentation. Lemon Cake Recipe HERE
Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone
This dessert is super quick and simple and a perfect end to a BBQ dinner when you already have a hot grill anyway. Grilled Peach Dessert Recipe HERE
Peach Cobbler
Oh be still my heart. I LOVE peach anything and this peach cobbler is SO easy and SO good. You can assemble it in just a few minutes and leave it to bake while dining. Serve warm with ginger ice cream! Yummm. Peach Cobbler Recipe HERE
Raspberry Almond Cake
This is a wonderful special occasion cake. Almond scented white cake is paired with raspberry jam filling, fresh raspberries, and cream cheese frosting. Try adding lemon curd filling between alternate layers, and using lemon Swiss buttercream frosting for a lighter variation! Raspberry Almond Cake Recipe HERE
Raspberry Shortbread Crumble Bars
Another popular staple here, these bar cookies are simple to make and freeze beautifully if you can rescue some to save before they all disappear! Raspberry Shortbread Crumble Bars recipe HERE
Key Lime Tart Squares
These little pockets of deliciousness are similar to key lime pie, but with a twist. The crust has the added salty crunch of pretzels which is a delightful combination with the sweet/tart lime filling.
You can make this as a pie, of course as well, but I like to make it in a square or rectangular tart pan and cut it into squares for a different presentation.
The recipe is from a special issue Holiday Cookies magazine from Cuisine at Home that I bought years ago. (A digital version is available HERE):
The original recipe calls for white chocolate added to the whipped cream, which I find just adds more steps and time to the recipe without any significant flavor benefit, so I just use sweetened whipped cream as a topping.
It also calls for a 9” square baking pan, which is fine, but I find it easier to use a removable bottom tart pan - I’ve use both square and oblong versions. I find it easier to cut the pieces and get them out without damaging them when I can eliminate the sides first!
Ingredients:
Crust
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (~6 graham crackers)
3/4 cup ground pretzels (~2 cups pretzel twists)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp sugar
Filling
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (~4 limes)
Grated zest from 2 limes
Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 oz white chocolate (optional)* OR sweeten with sugar, add optional tsp of liqueur
Directions
Preheat oven to 350º. Coat 9” square tart pan with cooking spray, or coat 9” square baking pan and line with parchment.
In a food processor, pulverize the graham crackers, add pretzels and pulverize until almost fine - a few small pieces should remain. Add melted butter and sugar and mix to combine.
Turn crumb crust mixture into prepared pan and press down firmly and evenly onto bottom. Pressing using the flat bottom of a measuring cup can be helpful.
Bake prepared crust in oven for 15-18 minutes until golden around edges.
While the crust is baking, whisk together 1 cup sugar and 3 Tbsp flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add the sweetened condensed milk and eggs and whisk until blended. Stir in lime juice and zest.
Pour filling over hot crust and bake 20 minutes longer until filling is set and no longer jiggly in center.
Cool bars completely, then cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hrs.
Cut into squares and garnish with whipped cream and a decorative lime slice or grated zest.
*If you are the type of person who must do everything exactly as written, here are the optional directions for white chocolate whipped cream: heat the cream until edges begin to bubble, remove from heat and whisk in finely chopped white chocolate until melted and smooth. Chill cream completely. Whip cream and garnish squares as directed above.