50+ Best Berry Desserts
You’ll want to make our Best Berry Desserts all summer long. These dreamy, seasonal sweets are ideal for casual dining or dinner parties!
Berry Recipes are a delicious way to celebrate any occasion. These Pies, Tarts, Shortcakes, Cheesecakes, and everything in between are the perfect way to end a meal.
Why You’ll Love these Berry Desserts
Strawberries:
Local strawberries are the first to ripen, so a good strawberry shortcake is always on our June menu. From there, I make tarts, parfaits, and even cheesecakes topped with luscious, juicy strawberries. Scroll through and let me know your favorites!
Strawberry Shortcakes with White Chocolate Mousse – The doctored-up whipped cream make these irresistible.
Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits – Layering sweet berries and a light cheesecake-inspired mixture makes for a terrific summer dessert.
Fresh Strawberry Tartlets – These gorgeous tarts showcase the best of summer strawberries.
Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle – A showstopping dessert with sweet berries, angel food cake, and a light cheesecake filling.
Mascarpone Cheesecake with Balsamic Strawberries – The addition of mascarpone cheese gives an Italian twist to this lovely dessert!
Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe – Nothing shouts summer like a strawberry pie!
How to Select the Best Strawberries
Use your eyes and nose to pick out perfect strawberries for your desserts. The tastiest strawberries will be totally red, without a green or white area near the stem. The tiny strawberry seeds should not be brown and dried, as this indicates older strawberries. Plus the berries should be glossy, not dull.
If your berries are in a plastic container, check the bottom to ensure there aren’t any moldy or bruised berries in the package. And you should also be able to detect the lovely aroma of fresh strawberries when they are fresh and ripe.
What’s the Best Way to Clean Strawberries?
Wait until an hour or so before you start cooking to wash off your berries. Moisture will accelerate their deterioration. Gently rinse them off in a colander and after letting them drain, pat them dry with paper toweling.
PRO-Tip: Alternatively, if you’re worried about pesticide residue, you can soak them for 20 minutes in a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 4 parts water. Drain and pat dry. This will also keep them fresh longer.
More Strawberry Recipes You’ll Love:
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie from Sally’s Baking Addiction
- Strawberry Shortcakes with Olive Oil Cake
- Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
- Mascarpone Filled Strawberries
- Strawberry Topped Chocolate Tart
- Easy Strawberry Mousse
- Strawberry Pound Cake
- Strawberry Eton Mess
- Classic Strawberry Shortcakes
- Strawberry Cream Pie
Raspberries:
When the raspberries are plump and sweet, it’s time to explore all the amazing raspberry-based desserts. A raspberry sauce is perfect with a flourless chocolate cake, but we really love a raspberry pie. What berry recipes do you like to make?
Selecting Raspberries
When picking out berries for your raspberry recipes, look for plump, unmarred berries that are brightly colored with a slightly hazy cast. Like with strawberries, inspect all sides of the packaging for spoiled berries.
White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake – A swirl of raspberry sauce makes an elegant topping for this white chocolate-infused cheesecake.
Raspberry Squares – Made with fresh berries and a buttery crumb topping, you’ll adore these berry bars!
Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova – Many of my friends had not eaten a pavlova until I shared mine. Another gorgeous raspberry dessert!
Raspberry Amaretto Bundt Cake – Perfect for picnics and potlucks!
Lattice-Topped Raspberry Pie – My Mother-in-Law introduced me to raspberry pie. Oh, so delicious!!
How to Freeze Raspberries and Other Berries
If you hit a berry patch or a local farmers’ market and purchase too many berries, it’s easy to freeze them for later. With raspberries, you’ll want to rinse them first and let them dry on a dishcloth or paper toweling. I like to first freeze them on a sheet pan, then transfer the frozen berries to a freezer-safe ziptop bag. Like raspberries, blackberries are very fragile and can be frozen in the same manner.
Strawberries can be frozen like raspberries, either whole or cut in half. Blueberries should not be rinsed first, as this can toughen the skins. Note that most frozen berries will be soft and juicy after they’re defrosted, but can still be used to make pies, crumbles, crisps, smoothies, fruit sauces, and more.
More Delicious Raspberry Recipes:
- Raspberry Lemon Cake from The View from Great Island
- Peach Raspberry Galette
- Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Parfaits
- Fresh Raspberry Crisp
- Peach Raspberry Crisp
- Raspberry Filled White Chocolate Bars
- Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry Sauce
- Lattice Topped Peach Raspberry Pie
- Raspberry Topped Mini Cheesecakes
Mixed Berries, Blackberry and Blueberry Recipes
To shake things up, use a mixture of berries. Doesn’t a tart with concentric circles of gorgeous fragrant berries make a stunning statement? Click through to see what magical mixture of berries is needed to create a wonderful, mouthwatering Razzleberry Pie.
And how about boysenberries? They’re a magical hybrid made from crossing raspberries, blackberries, and loganberries! They make a magnificent pie! And my husband adores blueberry desserts—especially a homemade blueberry pie.
Razzleberry Pie – A triple berry winner!! I can never resist a berry pie.
Blackberry Cheesecake Bars – 3 Delicious Layers!!
Summer Fruit Tart – Take the time to arrange your fresh berries for a stunning dessert!
Mixed Berry Torte – A simple cake recipe that garners rave reviews!
More Mixed Berry, Blackberry, and Blueberry Recipes
- Blueberry Hand Pies from Grandbaby Cakes
- Blackberry Pie from Simply Recipes
- Summer Berry Cheesecake Salad from Slow Roasted Italian
- Easy Mixed Berry Cobbler
- Berry Shortcakes
- Blueberry Peach Custard Pie
- Grilled Blueberry Cobbler
- Rustic Berry Turnovers
- Individual Berry Crisps
- Blueberry Streusel Bars
- Peach Blueberry Galette
- Blackberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars
- Berry Smoothies
Plus More Berry Recipes You’ll Love:
- Boozy Strawberry Watermelon Slushies from Cravings of a Lunatic
- Lemon Blueberry Bars from Cooking in Stilettos
- Red White and Blue Cake from A Dash of Sanity
- More of the Best Dessert Recipes
- More of the Best Pie Recipes
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Select the Best Berries?
Use your senses to pick the best berries. They should have a sweet aroma, be bright in color without signs of unripe/green or yellow areas, bruising, or deterioration, and not feel mushy. Toss shriveled or moldy berries.
Should You Wash Berries Before Using?
It’s best to give them a quick rinse to remove any dirt, pesticides, mold, or other contamination. A mixture of 1 part vinegar and 4 parts cool water works in two ways.
It cleans the berries plus it helps lengthen the time they stay fresh by killing any mold or bacteria that will accelerate spoiling. Rinse in cool water after soaking and dry thoroughly (use a salad spinner lined with paper towels to minimize bruising) or spread them out on paper toweling.
This post was first shared in June 2016. Photos and text were updated in 2020.
30 Comments on “50+ Best Berry Desserts”
Oh my word! What a delicious round up. So many ways to enjoy this seasonal fruit. Don’t know where to start but for some reason those strawberry squares are calling to us. Our weakness is a crumble topping. Pinning and bookmarking this great resource.
What a fabulous lineup, will definitely bookmark for next year, local berries are over in Ontario with the exception of blueberries. Great to know which berries should be washed and which ones shouldn’t. Reminds me of the time I went raspberry picking as a new bride, made about four pies but I had read not to wash them because the pie would be wet. As I was adding the berries to the last pie, something on the berries caught my eye, hundreds of little green spiders all over the berries! They were immediately dumped into the sink filled with cold water! Hahaha!
Wow, what a delicious collection of berry recipes. That trifle especially, is calling my name. Looks so refreshing and it’s so pretty! 🙂 ~Valentina
That blackberry cheesecake bar looks aaaaaaaaaaaaamazing! Thanks for taking time to do the roundup, Liz.
What a lineup, Liz! With summer berries in full swing and dessert on my mind, I know exactly where to look!
All those desserts look so so delicious and beautiful! Pinning for sure! xo
Liz, you are making dessert decisions very difficult. How is one to decided with so many delicious options on the table? I think maybe the best way is to start at the top and work our way down. That ought to keep us busy for a bit.
What beautiful panoply of luscious berry desserts – it’s hard to pick even top5. But as I don’t like turning my oven in summer time too often, my vote goes to trifles, parfaits, and eton mess!
so many delicious ideas! Not sure which is my fav, but the cheesecake is winking at me. I’m drooling now thanks! 🙂
So glad I saw this tonight!! Headed to Costco in the morning and was planning on picking up A LOT of berries! I see a couple I need to try!