Strawberry-Black Walnut Shortcakes
Creamy, crunchy and sweet, this dessert puts a new spin on the traditional strawberry shortcake. The recipe calls for black walnuts, but you can substitute English walnuts, if you like.
Very Blueberry Pie
This easy-to-make pie calls for pouring a warm sugar glaze over a generous amount of fresh blueberries or raspberries.
Rhubarb Crunch
Similar to an apple brown betty or fruit crisp, this rustic dessert has a cinnamon topping that blends graham-cracker crumbs and pecans with sugar, butter and bread crumbs.
When you are shopping for fresh rhubarb, avoid limp or thick stalks, which tend to be tougher. You can also use frozen rhubarb to create this dessert. Botanically speaking, rhubarb is a vegetable, but in recipes it's almost always treated as a fruit!
Cherry-Berry Smoothie
This quick-and-easy blender drink, from the Michigan Cherry Committee, combines cherries, milk, yogurt, blueberries or raspberries, juice concentrate, honey and vanilla.
Pannekoeken
This Dutch specialty, a puff pancake, bakes into a bowl shape that cradles a pile of sliced fresh peaches. The recipe comes from the Hidden Lake Bed and Breakfast in Jonesboro, Illinois, where the pannekoeken gets a dollop of sour cream and a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar.
Blueberry Cream Treats
When it's time for the blueberry harvest at DeGrandchamp Farms in South Haven, Michigan, this quick dessert fits the family's busy schedule. It's simple, yet so good.
Summer Fruit Freeze
Connie Alger of North Manchester, Indiana, sent us the recipe for this fruity specialty that blends juice concentrate with other fruits for a make-ahead dessert.
"Not only is it refreshing in hot weather, it's refreshing after a heavy meal," Connie says. "Little ones and adults all love this."
Just freeze the ingredients together in a container. Then let it stand 30 to 60 minutes before scraping it off for a slushy ice. You'll think you're eating a sweet snowball.
Raspberry Custard Brulee
Layers of raspberries and custard topped with lacy caramelized sugar form this elegant yet easy-to-make dessert.
Choose-A-Fruit Ice Cream
Here's one recipe with three fruit versions to choose from: blackberry, raspberry or peach. For our photo, we made one of each, froze them in 15x10x1 inch pans lined with foil, then cut them into geometric shapes to stack. A purchased fruit sauce tops them off.
Berries Romanoff
This easy recipe makes a refreshing dessert-- perfect for a brunch or light dinner. It's also a good recipe for entertaining; prepare the sour-cream sauce the day before your party, and then just layer the sauce and fruit in parfait glasses before serving.
Peach Kuchen
Like any good cook, Mary Jo Smith of Hidden Lake Bed and Breakfast in Jonesboro, Illinois, adjusts her recipes as she prepares them over time. She has fine-tuned the custard layer for Peach Kuchen and added spices to the peaches. If you're in a hurry, substitute a single refrigerated unbaked piecrust for the Kuchen Crust.
Watermelon with Honey-Lime Syrup
Drizzle watermelon with this citrus syrup for a spicy-sweet dessert. For a colorful twist, use watermelons of different shades-- red, orange and yellow.
