Instant Recipes: These Aren’t Your Typical Fourth of July Desserts

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7/3/21

These Aren’t Your Typical Fourth of July Desserts

These Aren't Your Typical Fourth of July Desserts

Kristin Stangl, Editor

As a New Yorker, summer weekends begin with packing a cooler for the beach in the morning and end with a grilled dinner in a thin sliver of a Brooklyn backyard. Other weekends we picnic in the park with plenty of chilled rosé and enough food to keep us there through both lunch and dinner. This July 4th weekend gives us ample days to do all of the above—and for a lot of us, it might be the first time in nearly 18 months that we will be seeing our friends and family in large gatherings. Not that I need an excuse to pop some bubbles and over-feed friends, but if I was looking for one, this particular holiday weekend just might be it.

To me, nothing says summer quite like a fruit-focused dessert, so one (or ten) of these will absolutely be landing on a picnic or beach blanket this weekend.

Berry galette (aka the lazy person's pie, aka my kind of pie) is a cinch to make and studded with berries of your choice-- a combo of raspberry and strawberry is my personal favorite-- and is incredibly portable.

Peach cobbler is another favorite of mine. Tossing in a few blueberries or raspberries before baking is not only allowed, but encouraged. Put someone else on ice cream duty (even if it's from the ice cream truck driving past) to round out these baked fruit classics.

Pavlova is perfect If you're one for the dramatic (spoiler alert: I'm one for the dramatic). It's a show-stopper requiring minimal effort. Crispy meringue makes for a dramatic vessel to house pillowy whipped cream and whatever fruit you fancy, though the colors of blueberries, cherries, and strawberries feel especially patriotic. Pro tip: If you're making this dessert to go, wrap the baked meringue separately, pack the whipped cream and fruit in a cooler, and assemble on site. The same rule can also be applied to strawberry shortcake.

Berry trifle: Do not overlook this dessert, which layers liquor-soaked pound cake (yes, please) with vanilla pudding, berries, and cream. This semi-homemade dessert is a simple matter of assembly.

Pie! It would be very wrong of me to speak of fruit desserts without mentioning the OG of fruit desserts. This buttery pie crust is the perfect flaky pairing for the fresh fruit filling of your choice, and should be a staple in your baking arsenal, whether for a stone fruit pie like peach or plum, or the classic blueberry.

Chilled desserts: If the idea of turning the oven on has you sweating by your window A/C unit, then by all means, don't! This watermelon cake is all watermelon and no cake, meaning no oven required. This mango ice cream gives a nod to a tropical beach vacation (which we could all use). And finally, sorbets in flavors like strawberry and cantaloupe are a welcome reprieve from the heat. Make them fireworks-viewing worthy by topping with a splash of bubbly prosecco, and cheers to the summer!