Cherries
The first to arrive on the summer stone fruit scene, cherries are available throughout the summer in a variety of colors and flavors. Sweet cherries, such as Bing, Lapins, or Rainier, are perfect for enjoying raw, preserving, or baking into pies and tarts. Sour cherries, such as Montmorency, are best cooked and are popular in pies, cocktails, and crisps, where sugar can be added to tame their tartness.
Fresh Cherry Tart with Cream Cheese Filling
At first glance, the addition of citrus may seem unusual, but the added lemon or lime in the crust pairs beautifully with the almond and fresh cherry flavors.
Sweet Cherry Pie
For some people—er, me—apple pie is a favorite. For others, it’s unquestionably cherry that rocks their world. I get asked every weekend at the Pitchfork Pie Stand if I have cherry pie. My response is a quick one: “Who’s going to pit all those cherries?!” But cherry pie is bred deeply in the American DNA, and for that, and its bright and cheery appearance, there is a place for it when offering gifts of healing to others.
There is nothing better than a fresh cherry pie for launching the summer fruit pie season. This recipe was a fabulous kick-off! I brought home about two pounds of cherries and the filling set beautifully as the pie cooled. Oh and the crust—beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
Chiyo
Pickled Cherries
Pickled cherries are a quick, easy, unexpected way to extend cherry season. Tartly sweet, subtly spiced, and surprisingly hard to stop eating, these little gems ably extend summer.
This is the 6th time I’ve made this pickled cherries recipe. It never disappoints!
Ilda C.
Apricots
Fresh apricots are in season in North America from May through July, although the dried variety is a popular snack year-round. While an excellent addition to pies, tarts, and crumbles, the sweet-tart flavor of these fruits also lends itself to cocktails, like this apricot daiquiri, and pairs well in savory dishes like roasted pork tenderloin with chanterelles.
Apricot Tart with Frangipane
This apricot tart is full of fresh apricots that are sitting on a buttery frangipane, or almond cream, all nestled in a crumbly sweet tart shell. On top are chopped pistachios, for the wow factor.
Apricot Jam
This no pectin apricot jam recipe, made with only three ingredients – fresh apricots, sugar, and lemon juice – is an easy way to make apricot season last all year long.
I LOVE it!!!! I made the apricot jam exactly by the recipe and it was incredible.
Mylene
Apricot Galette
With an apricot galette, you have the best of summer—a ripe, sweet fruit that speaks for itself, needing very little added sugar and a light, buttery crust that’s fuss-free.
This is a fantastic galette recipe that is equal parts wonderful California apricots and French pastry. A taste of summer and a taste of Paris all at once.
Mr. Mill Valley
Peaches
Whether you prefer to enjoy perfectly ripe peaches unadorned, juice dripping down your arms, transformed into sweet and spicy peach salsa, piled atop burrata and peach pizza, or baked into a fresh peach pie, these stone fruits are a much-beloved summer favorite.
Curious about whether you should choose clingstone or freestone? It’s up to you. Freestone peaches are easier to cut and pit, making them ideal for the grilled peach recipe below or for enjoying out of hand, while clingstone peaches are smaller and sweeter, making them perfect for canning and preserving.
Grilled Peaches with Honey and Black Pepper
These grilled peaches with honey and black pepper are an easy summer dessert that caramelizes the natural sweetness of stone fruits and turns them tender and soft. A drizzle of honey and a slight bite from black pepper takes them over the top.
Grilled peaches are the perfect summer dessert! It was the perfect ending to a lovely dinner of grilled lamb chops, potato gratin, and fennel arugula salad. I served the peaches with vanilla ice cream and I had a very happy table!
Lisa
Tomato and Peach Panzanella
Tomato and peach panzanella may sound unlikely but it’s gonna knock your socks off. Or, if you’re not wearing socks this time of year, then it’ll knock your flip-flops off. Guaranteed.
This tomato and peach panzanella is summer in your mouth! I can’t say enough about how good this was. It’s peak tomato and peach season here in Southern California which made for a delicious treat.
Nancy D.
Old-Fashioned Peach Cobbler
This old-fashioned peach cobbler is made with peaches, flour, milk, sugar, and a surprise trick to make the surface irresistibly crackly and crisp. It’s the best cobbler we’ve ever tried.
I wait longingly for peach season, just to make this cobbler. It’s truly wonderful, either fresh out of the oven or after a day or two in the fridge…that is, if you have any left!
Janet D.
Nectarines
Nectarines have the same sweet flavor as peaches but lack the fuzzy skin. Genetically, the fruits are the same and are often paired together in pie, crisp, cobbler, and stone fruit slump.
Baked Nectarines With Port
Baked nectarines with port make a lovely, summery dessert that’s both easy and elegant. A little scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn’t go amiss here, either.
Peach Nectarine Cobbler
This peach nectarine cobbler combines lightly spiced stone fruit filling and cakey biscuit topping for a classic easy summer dessert.
This peach nectarine cobbler is fabulous. You can’t go wrong with perfectly ripe peaches and nectarines, but those biscuits on top stole the show! I was hopeful that there would be leftovers to eat for breakfast but my greedy family made sure there were none.
Angelene
Poached Nectarines
Poached nectarines in rosé syrup. Simple as can be in execution. Sophisticated in presentation. Lovely through and through.
Plums
Plums are the jewel-toned star of summer stone fruit recipes. Their sweet-tart flavor and soft, juicy flesh make them ideal for baking into cakes and plum torte. For the most flavorful fruit, look for plums with a deep, consistent color that is still firm. Avoid any fruit that feels soft or has blemishes or dark spots on the skin.
Skillet Plum Cake
This skillet plum cake is an easy dessert to make with ripe plums (or your favorite summer fruit) that are baked into sweet buttermilk cake.
Roasted Plum Sorbet
This recipe is inspired by a sorbet that I had on one such evening in late summer, the scoops piled high into a waffle cone and dripping sticky-sweet plum juices down my hands—the perfect end to an evening.
It felt a little sacrilegious initiating my ice cream maker with something other than a classic vanilla ice cream, but fresh fruit was calling. Roasting with cinnamon, sugar and vanilla beans was such a simple process, and produced an aromatic, rich plum sorbet with sunset colors.
At serving time, the sorbet had a richness that I would not have expected from a sorbet. It was smooth, just tart enough to be refreshing, and a great inaugural run for my ice cream maker. Thank you!
Judith P.
Plum Crumble Pie
This plum crumble pie is made a traditional pastry crust, a bubbling fruit filling, and an easy crumble topping. An easy summer dessert.