Blackberry

Make this pie the night before — it takes just minutes to put together. If you don't want to think that far ahead, serve the sauce over scoops of ice cream.

A festive margarita variation with muddled fresh blackberries, thyme, and sparkling wine.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from A Passion for Ice Cream by Emily Luchetti, Executive Pastry Chef at Farallon Restaurant in San Francisco. The black cow, also known as a root beer float, is simply a catchy name for a classic treat. This purple and yellow cow builds on the original idea but uses pineapple juice and cassis-berry sherbet. The addition of shaved ice makes it very refreshing. It is as good as the original, but has a more vivid presentation and sophisticated taste.

Meyer lemons lend a fragrant citrus note to the silky frozen cream, which needs about four hours' freezing time.

Marshmallowy buttercream tops the crunchy crust and tender interior of this rich cake. Fresh blackberries add a lush fruitiness and tame the sweetness with their slightly tart flavor.

The texture spectrum of these pies is just as bold as their appearance: A crisp, flaky layered crust gives way to lush, creamy lime curd and juicy glazed berries.

Eating one of these individual pies is quite different from your basic fork-and-plate experience. A bite through the crisp pastry, sparkling with sugar, reveals a thick filling of sweet-and-tart fruit.

Sweet berry juices are absorbed by a cushion of simple-to-prepare drop biscuits in a dessert that's made for the season.

A light syrup, laced with the refreshing lemony-floral taste of verbena, and a scoop of cassis sorbet amplify the tug-of-war between sweet and tart in a bowl of mixed summer fruits.

Shortcakes are biscuit-like cakes that have more butter (or shortening) than many other types of cake. In fact, pastry chefs often describe especially buttery doughs as "short."

Editor's note: This recipe is from Michele Adams's and Gia Russo's book Wedding Showers: Ideas & Recipes for the Perfect Party. Berry bread puddings can be made out of any kind of leftover breads — we like brioche, challah, French, sourdough, and cinnamon. The texture is best if the bread you use is a day old. This recipe is designed for individual servings, but you can make it a in large baking dish too. If you're pressed for time on the day of the shower, you can make this the day before.

These hearty, highly addictive pancakes are an ideal start to an active day. For easier outdoor cooking, mix the dry ingredients before you leave.

The buttery, cookielike topping in most crisp recipes is usually a calorie bomb. But chef Dean Rucker uses a whole-grain crumble of whole-wheat flour and rolled oats that's gently sweetened with honey, so you save calories and get almost 5 grams of fiber per serving. Feel free to swap in other fruit options to take advantage of the season's freshest picks.

Because the blackberry coulis flavors the glaze for this dark chocolate cake, it should be made ahead of the cake.

Lewis Rossman of Half Moon Bay, California, writes: "I'm a chef, and Mediterranean is probably the best way to describe the kind of cooking I do at my restaurant, Cetrella. There's an emphasis on seafood, plus several dishes inspired by places I've visited like Provence and Catalonia. This is one of my favorite recipes from the menu. It also happens to be the thing I make at home all the time."