Berry Desserts are always a hit with my family. Once seasonal berries hit the market, I start with strawberry shortcakes and continue with sweet creations all summer long. Today, I’m sharing the best berry desserts from the blog!

Berry Desserts Collage
Table of Contents hide
1 Best Berry Desserts
2 Strawberries:
3 How to Select the Best Strawberries
4 What’s the Best Way to Clean Strawberries?
5 More Strawberry Recipes You’ll Love:
6 Raspberries:
7 Selecting Raspberries
8 How to Freeze Raspberries and Other Berries
9 More Delicious Raspberry Recipes:
10 Mixed Berries, Blackberry and Blueberry Recipes
11 More Mixed Berry, Blackberry and Blueberry Recipes
12 Plus More Berry Recipes You’ll Love:

Best 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 Shortcake with White Chocolate Whipped Cream featured image

Strawberry Shortcakes with White Chocolate Mousse

Strawberry Parfaits

Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Fresh Strawberry Tartlets | Dreamy tartlets topped with luscious cream cheese filling and topped with berry slices

Fresh Strawberry Tartlets

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle | Layers of angel food cake, boozy berries and cream cheese filling

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

Mascarpone Cheesecake | The most creamy, luscious cheesecake topped with sweetened balsamic strawberries

Mascarpone Cheesecake with Balsamic Strawberries

Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe - No Jello needed, just pure ripe strawberry flavor for the perfect summer dessert!

Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe

How to Select the Best Strawberries 

To pick out perfect strawberries for your desserts, use your eyes and nose. 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 make sure 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. 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.

More Strawberry Recipes You’ll Love:

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 slice on a round white plate with fresh raspberries and a red handle fork

White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

Stack of Streusel Topped Raspberry Cookie Bars on a small round white plate

Raspberry Squares

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova - A sublime dessert with a chocolate meringue topped with berries and cream

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

Raspberry Amaretto Bundt Cake | Pound cake full of fresh raspberries and flavored with extracts and liqueur

Raspberry Amaretto Bundt Cake

Lattice Topped Raspberry Pie

Lattice-Topped Raspberry Pie

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:

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 mouthwateringly wonderful Razzleberry Pie.

Razzleberry Pie | Raspberry, Blackberry and Blueberry Pie with a crumb topping

Razzleberry Pie

Blackberry Cheesecake Bars on a round white plate with fresh blackberris and a red handled fork

Blackberry Cheesecake Bars

Summer Fruit Tart | Pastry crust with whipped cream and cream cheese filling topped with glorious summer berries

Summer Fruit Tart

Mixed Berry Torte on a dessert plate with a fork and berries

Mixed Berry Torte

More Mixed Berry, Blackberry and Blueberry Recipes

Plus More Berry Recipes You’ll Love:

This post was first shared in June 2016. Photos and text were updated in 2020.