Fresh summer fruit is one of life’s little pleasures: juicy, sweet, tart and perfect for snacking. But beyond the usual slices of watermelon and piles of blueberries, we’re bookmarking pies, salads and other recipes for the warmest months of the year. Strawberries make a cool, refreshing granita with honey-sweetened pesto, and apricots (or even peaches) are a heavenly pairing with burrata, country ham and arugula. Tempted? Read on for some of our favorite recipes for cooking and baking with summer fruit.
Summer Berry Galette
Food & Wine / Photography: Jason Donnelly / Food Styling: Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling: Adeline Evans
A simple, summery galette from 2022 F&W Best New Chef Caroline Schiff. Create a juicy, tart-sweet berry filling with blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, and a golden, buttery, flaky crust.
Watermelon salad with feta and mint
This easy summer watermelon salad is perfect to eat outdoors in the warm sun. The watermelon and mint add lots of fresh flavor, and the salted olives and feta add the perfect accent. Chef Jacques Pépin slices a small, seedless watermelon into rounds with a melon baller (he adds the slices to the salad so nothing goes to waste), but you can cube the watermelon if you prefer.
Stone Fruit Salad with Collards and Peanut Pesto
In this flavorful fruit salad, roasted peanuts, collard greens, and Parmesan create a hearty pesto that pairs perfectly with honey-drizzled plum and nectarine wedges. Fonio, a West African grain with a texture similar to couscous, soaks up the pesto, making this salad flavorful in every bite.
Mixed Berry Cornmeal Biscuit Shortcake
This shortcake is a perfect summer dessert, made with soft, buttery cornmeal biscuits topped with fresh macerated berries flavored with vanilla and lemon zest and homemade whipped cream. The addition of cornmeal to the batter enhances the biscuit’s texture and flavor. It can also be made the day before and reheated when ready to serve.
Peach Blueberry Pie
This pie tastes like summer, but thawed frozen fruit works just as well if fresh fruit isn’t available. The tart lemon zest and juice in the filling balances the sweetness of the fruit and contrasts with the crunchy turbinado sugar on top of the geometric puff pastry.
Apricot Nectarine Julep
A puree of roasted apricots and nectarines complements the vanilla and nutmeg notes of the bourbon, creating a perfect late-summer cocktail. Pour the reserved puree over crushed ice for a Hawaiian shaved ice-like drink. The same roasting and pureeing technique can also be used with stone fruits such as plums and sour cherries.
Mango Blackberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuits
Victor Protacio / Food Styling: Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling: Claire Spollen
This easy cobbler recipe from F&W’s Diana Perez brings you the flavors of luscious summer mango and juicy blackberries on fluffy drop biscuits.
Grilled pork chops with blueberry sauce
Writer Nicole A. Taylor gives blueberries a flavorful twist. She blends them with shallots, thyme, and chipotle in adobo to create a viscous sauce that highlights the fruit’s floral aromas, while red wine and balsamic vinegar add acidity and round out the flavors. This sauce pairs beautifully with most grilled meats; here, Taylor slathers it over juicy grilled pork rib chops.
Georgia Peach Pie with Bourbon Whipped Cream
When you slice into this delicious pie, don’t be surprised to see a gap between the filling and the top crust. This happens when the pie is baked at a high temperature, because the crust sets before the fruit inside has time to cook through. It’s worth it, though, as the high heat also crisps up the bottom crust.
Strawberry Granita with Sweet Pesto Sauce
Chef Lachlan MacKinnon Patterson pairs a tangy berry granita with honey-sweetened pesto to create this refreshing summer dessert. For the most flavorful granita, choose the sweetest, juiciest berries.
Chili Coconut Watermelon Crudo
Sweet, spicy and punchy, this upgrade on the classic salted watermelon is a palate-pleasing appetizer worthy of your barbecue guests. Fresh coconut water is much sweeter and has a deeper flavor than the bottled version, so try cracking a coconut if you can.
Blackberry and mascarpone crepe cake
This scrumptious dessert by Gail Simmons features a heaping serving of French crepes layered with rich whipped mascarpone cream, tangy berries, and a dollop of lemon zest.
No-bake peach and cream cheesecake
With a crisp graham cracker crust and two layers of peach puree, this no-bake dessert from F&W Executive Culinary Director Justin Chapple is a huge hit. The perfect ratio of cream cheese and ricotta gives this layered cake its creamy texture.
Candied Melon with Cardamom and Mint
All you need to turn ripe melon into a memorable dessert is sugar, cardamom, and fresh mint. Cantaloupe and other muskmelons, like honeydew melons, are sometimes treated like an afterthought, which is why chef Vishwesh Bhatt calls this recipe “Don’t Forget the Melon.” “If you have a nice, ripe melon, it’s so delicious,” Bhatt says. “Summer is the perfect season for melon.”
Peach and Blackberry Crisp
Julia Hartbeck
Fresh ripe peaches and tart blackberries are baked with buttery, delicately spiced oats and brown sugar crumbles, then baked crisp and golden in the oven. Make sure to bake this dessert until the juices are bubbling.
Black rice salad with cherries and plums
Fresh plums and cherries add juicy sweetness to this hearty summer salad. Black rice gives this dish a dark, melancholic hue and extra texture. The salad culminates with a finishing touch of crunchy, craggy blue cheese breadcrumbs that add a lovely texture to the chewy rice and fruit.
Alcoholic Frozen Strawberry Lemonade
Renowned pastry chef Claudia Fleming’s Buzzy Frozen Strawberry Lemonade is sweet, refreshing and irresistibly delicious – the perfect drink for a hot summer afternoon. Made with lemon vodka, prosecco, basil, limoncello, strawberries and lemon sorbet, this frozen cocktail also makes a great dessert. Freeze and stir the lemonade and serve immediately to prevent it from melting.
Shrimp and okra kebabs with grilled peaches and jalapeño bourbon vinaigrette
In 2008 F&W Best New Chef Sue Zemanick’s shrimp and okra kebabs, a splash of bourbon is added to the vinaigrette, imparting a sweet, alcoholic flavor that tenderizes the shrimp. The kebabs are served on top of grilled peach wedges and finished with a drizzle of vinaigrette.
Sour Cherry Mezcal Margarita
This fruity margarita combines smoky mezcal, citrusy Cointreau, and sweet and tart cherry puree for a vibrant red drink that’s perfect for summer. Bright, delightfully tart, sour cherries are only in season for a limited time, so this simple roasted puree is an easy way to preserve the cherry flavor.
Summer Plum Crostata
This elegant tart doesn’t require any special pans, making it perfect for preparing in a modest mountain cabin kitchen. Chef Kelly Liken uses Colorado plums, which she loves for their “beautiful tartness.” Colorado’s cool nighttime temperatures keep the plums slightly tart even when ripe. Any firm but ripe plums work well in this dish.
Strawberry Mango Paletas
When Fanny Gersson creates new paletas for her company, La Newyorkina, she follows this rule of thumb: If the ingredients match in color, they’ll taste good. These vibrant red-and-orange popsicles are perfect to make when juicy strawberries are in season.
Raspberry Clafoutis
In this classic French dessert, organic winemaker Alix de Montille substitutes raspberries for the traditional cherries to better pair with Jean-Marc Roulot’s raspberry eau-de-vie. La Framboise du Rouleau.
Berry Ice Cream Pie
This recipe for Berry Ice Cream Pie is as delicious and refreshing as it is beautiful: a graham cracker crust layered with balsamic blueberry jam and strawberry ice cream, served with fresh blueberries.
Grilled Apricots with Burrata, Country Ham and Arugula
© Dave Laurissen
Here, chef Travis Lett pairs lightly charred grilled apricots with radicchio and baby arugula in a simple lemon dressing, then tops it with shredded burrata cheese, shredded country ham, and aged balsamic vinegar. Depending on the season, Lett might also add plums, peaches, or pears to this salad.
Summer Berry Tart
A top-quality puff pastry (F&W prefers Dufour brand) makes all the difference in this simple fruit dessert, and berries stewed with a little sugar make for a slightly sticky, fresh-tasting topping.
Blue Barb Jam
Instead of strawberries, this jam combines fresh blueberries and rhubarb for a surprisingly simple and delicious sweet and tart jam.
Watermelon gazpacho
This cool, sweet and sour take on the Spanish classic combines watermelon with tomato, cucumber, green onion and jalapeño for a fun and refreshing drink.
Strawberry Ricotta Tartlet
Pastry chef Heather Tyrrell uses buttermilk to make the ricotta that tops her graham tartlet crusts, but she says any good quality store-bought ricotta will do the trick.
Summer fruit salad with arugula and almonds
Chef Suzanne Goin often uses whatever fruit she finds at the market to create this savory and sweet salad. Ripe green or black figs are her favorites, and you could also substitute a few crushed figs for the nectarines as the base for the vinaigrette.
Chilled peach soup with fresh goat cheese
Chef Jason Franny makes a sweet and sour summer soup by soaking fresh peaches overnight with dried apricots, honey, vinegar, and olive oil, then pureing them. Because peaches have a wide range of flavors, Franny recommends seasoning them with vinegar as you puree them.
