Blackberry

Begin preparing this delicious dessert at least one day ahead.

A very pretty, fresh-tasting dessert that can be assembled a day ahead.

Active time: 40 minutes Start to finish: 6 hours(includes making dough and cooling pie)

Don't worry — you won't need a giant oven for this king-size tart. It's made in 4 quadrants, baked one at a time. And because the recipe uses packaged puff pastry, it's fairly simple to prepare.

Purchased pineapple-coconut ice cream and mango and boysenberry sorbets make this dessert easy. The terrine needs to freeze overnight before serving.

If you happen to find a brioche loaf, it also would make terrific French toast. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 30 min

The mixture of fruit in this dessert, a long-standing menu item at The Marx Bros. Cafe in Anchorage, might include anything from wild Alaskan blueberries to apples, depending on the time of year.

Sorbete de Zarzamora Berries are cultivated near the small colonial town of Valle de Bravo, outside Mexico City. Sorbets and ice creams are enormously popular throughout Mexico.

Look for malted milk powder alongside the dry milk products in the supermarket.

Berries are in top form here; the filling is a cool, tangy crème fraîche sorbet rather than the usual whipped cream.

The nutty, slightly spicy flavor of the sweet red wine works well with the berries in this dish. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 45 min

Any colorful combination of seasonal fruit can be used to decorate this pretty dessert.

This recipe yields more meringue squares than you'll need for the ice cream–filled napoleons. The extras can replace any that break — and they also make a delicious snack.

If you're making this entire menu, we recommend assembling the cobbler and putting it into the oven just before you begin grilling the steak. That way, the cobbler will be cool enough to serve after you have finished eating the main course and cleared the table.

All the wonderful flavors and textures of summer berry pie à la mode in an ice cream sundae. For a casual party, offer the individual components buffet style and let guests make their own.

Chopped toffee candy gives orange-scented vanilla ice cream a surprise crunch in this easy and innovative dessert.