Raspberry

A Gin Rickey is a mix of gin, lime juice, and club soda. We've added crushed raspberries and rose water, which makes the berry flavor sing. Any gin will work, but the cucumber and rose notes of Hendrick's are particularly good here. Garnish with lime slices and whole berries.

Forget S'mores. This summer, we're making these sweet grilled sandwiches.

Frozen açai puree is available in the freezer section of most supermarkets.

Smashing (called muddling in the bartending biz) the raspberries with the vodka, sugar, and lime wedges brings out the berry flavor.

At 1105, a bar in Copenhagen, juniper-inflected gin is paired with caraway-flavored aquavit, Scandinavia's traditional eau-de-vie.

Tender chocolate cake is layered with raspberry jam and rich chocolate ganache (a mixture of melted chocolate and whipping cream) in this great dessert. Fresh raspberries make a pretty and easy topping.

Brown sugar and butter form a caramelized crust on the French toast. Use a light-textured bread; for a special touch, top with mascarpone (see "Ingredient Tips").

If you don't believe the saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, this simple yet incredibly good sorbet is proof positive that it can be true. This is my all-time favorite sorbet.

The combination of pears and raspberries is a definite palate pleaser. You can use any ripe pears in this recipe; if you use Bartletts, you need not peel them. We jazz up this pandowdy by adding candied ginger to the biscuit dough. The effect is a warm and spicy infusion that makes this rustic dessert a comfort food favorite. When you serve this pandowdy with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream on a cold autumn evening, you will have everyone "mmm'ing" and asking for more.

Bread pudding was originally created as a way to use up stale bread. Today, the dessert is a favorite in the U.K. and the U.S. Here, rich brioche is combined with a vanilla custard and pieces of tangy ginger-infused rhubarb.

Legend has it that the Bakewell tart was invented in the 1800s in the village of Bakewell. An inexperienced cook made a mistake when putting together a strawberry tart—and ended up with a pie crust with a layer of preserves on the bottom and a soft, cake-like filling. This version uses raspberry preserves, but strawberry would also be delicious.

I like to use frozen berries for this crumble. Not only can I have it any time of year, but the juices left in the bag after thawing provide sweetness (without adding a lot of sugar) and sauce for the crumble.

When I was growing up, my mom would cut up fresh fruit and arrange it on a plate with a shot glass full of toothpicks. She would also toss fresh fruit with some orange or lime juice and sugar. Taking inspiration from her, I came up with my own version: lime, lemon, a little maple syrup, and an herb syrup with rosemary or mint.
Cut your fruit into chunks rather than into small pieces; I find that small pieces of fruit get mealy and mushy. Make the salad the morning you're going to serve it, but if you're determined to make it the night before, cut up the fruit, store it in separate containers, and then toss it together in the morning. Use whatever fruit you'd like (bananas, apples, berries—the possibilities are endless), but unless you're using the ripest, sweetest seasonal fruit, add a little sugar.

As its name suggests, a pudding cake is like two desserts in one: a light, fluffy cake that gives way to a smooth, rich custard. This one gets its signature tang from buttermilk. Maple–sweetened berries prove to be an inspired companion.

In the early 1990s we hired a chef who loved to bake, and he came up with this pie. It became an instant classic. The fruit is only lightly sweetened, and its tartness combined with the sugar-crumb topping is a perfect pairing. Served warm with vanilla ice cream, it's heavenly. If you use frozen berries, increase them by 1/2 cup each and defrost slightly before tossing with the other ingredients.

Dripping with snowy-white icing and paired with fresh berries and a ruby-red currant and raspberry sauce, this sheet cake is a charming way to end a dinner party.

Exotic ginger-poached peaches are served with light, delicate meringues and softly whipped cream in a dessert that's great for summer entertaining (the peaches and meringues can be made a day ahead). A serrated vegetable peeler makes quick work of peeling the peaches.