35 Raspberry Desserts That Are The Berry Best Of Summer
Make these sweet-tart desserts (& drinks!) all spring & summer long.
As soon as it's summer, you could say we get... berry into summer desserts. While blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries often steal the spotlight, we think it's high time raspberries got to be your new go-to fruit for making life all the more sweet. Need ideas? We've rounded up 35 of our favorite raspberry desserts (and some sweet raspberry drinks and cocktails too!) that are sure to inspire you all summer long.
We have a good feeling these raspberry cakes, tarts, cobblers, and cookies are going to shoot straight to the top of your baking to-do list, because the sweet-tart fruit adds such a delightful zip of flavor to every treat it touches. Love an espresso-laced tiramisu? You'll flip over our raspberry tiramisu. Big fan of a pineapple upside-down cake? Our raspberry peach upside-down cake will become your new fave. Can't brunch without a mimosa in hand? Wait 'til you try our raspberry mimosas—you'll never want plain ol' orange again.
Looking for an easy way to add that raspberry zing to your baked goods? Raspberry jam and sauce to the rescue! Homemade (or store-bought, no judgement) raspberry jam is great for classics like Linzers and thumbprints, but also for swirling into our raspberry cheesecake, spooning atop our raspberry cheesecake bars, into our raspberry swirl pound cake (and its frosting), or for drizzling atop our pavlova cupcakes. Get creative and try it in ALL your baked goods—you won't regret it.
Looking for more fruity treats? Check out all our favorite easy fruit desserts, our best no-bake desserts, and our favorite grilled fruit recipes too.
Chantilly Cake
There are cakes, and then there’s Chantilly cake, a towering layer cake stuffed with fresh berries and blanketed in whipped cream frosting. The impressive dessert marries the delicious simplicity of a classic yellow cake with the berries and cream combo that makes shortcakes shine. 😍
Get the Chantilly Cake recipe.
Raspberry Almond Pound Cake
We love a classic pound cake, but it never hurts to fancy things up a bit. This one uses both almond flour and extract to give it extra almond-y flavor, then gets topped with more almonds after being drizzled with a beautiful glaze. The inside is studded with ripe raspberries for a pop of tartness. It's a stunning cake that works well for dessert or a midday treat.
Get the Raspberry Almond Pound Cake recipe.
Raspberry Cheesecake
This creamy, decadent cheesecake is swirled with a raspberry sauce to create a show-stopping dessert that's sure to impress. Our favorite part? Rather than a standard graham cracker crust, this cheesecake base is made from super-buttery shortbread.
Get the Raspberry Cheesecake recipe.
Cottage Cheese Bark
We’ve given cottage cheese, the classic '90s protein, a modern facelift by turning it into a peanut butter and jelly cottage cheese bark. By blending the cottage cheese until it’s smooth, drizzling it with peanut butter, jelly, granola, and freezing it, this is a healthy snack that will fill you up and satisfy your sweet tooth at the same time.
Get the Cottage Cheese Bark recipe.
Raspberry Cheesecake Lasagna
The sign of summer is a big pan of fruity no-bake cheesecake, and this cheesecake lasagna is giving all that and more. Fresh raspberry filling sits atop layers of crunchy graham cracker crust and silky whipped cream cheese for a cool, creamy dessert that’s equally simple to make and impressive to serve.
Get the Raspberry Cheesecake Lasagna recipe.
Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Whether you just don’t have the time (or can’t conjure up the effort) to make a full cheesecake or are simply looking for a simple, shareable dessert to win your summer BBQ, these raspberry cheesecake bars are the answer. A sweet, creamy lemon cheesecake is layered on top of a Nilla wafer crust before being topped with a tart raspberry jam in this easy dessert, creating the perfect combination of tangy and sweet.
Get the Raspberry Cheesecake Bars recipe.
Petit Fours
Featuring confetti cake layered with raspberry jam and buttercream and covered in a shiny white glaze, these stunning mini cakes will delight anyone and everyone.
Get the Petit Fours recipe.
No-Bake Fruit & Granola Tart
Looking for a show-stopping springtime brunch centerpiece that also doubles as a nice and light all-day dessert? Crowned with an abundance of fresh berries, this no-bake tart is equally easy to make and stunning to look at.
Get the No-Bake Fruit & Granola Tart recipe.
Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Coffee cakes are our jam, and this just might be our favorite. There's basically a layer of cheesecake right in the middle! If you're not into almond extract, feel free to sub in vanilla.
Berries & Cream Charcuterie Board
The only thing better than fresh, sweet berries is piling them on angel food cake and shortbread cookies with sweet ricotta or whipped cream. This DIY "starcuterie" board is the ideal sweet treat to round out any gathering.
Get the Berries & Cream Charcuterie Board recipe.
Fro-Yo Fruit Bites
Whether you're looking for an easy, on-the-go breakfast or an anytime sweet snack, these fro-yo bites are the answer. All you need are 4 ingredients (plus your chosen fruit!) to create these bites: plain yogurt, whole milk, honey, and pure vanilla extract. They come together in only 10 minutes—just make sure to give them plenty of time to chill in the freezer so that they set completely.
Get the Fro-Yo Fruit Bites recipe.
Raspberry Tiramisu
We love a classic tiramisu and couldn’t imagine it getting much better–until raspberries entered the picture. We use a little orange liqueur instead of rum to amplify the brighter flavors. The ladyfingers soak up the coffee mixture quickly, so just do a quick dunk or they’ll start to fall apart on you. The soaked ladyfingers and whipped cream are a pretty much perfect combination for a light, no-bake dessert.
Get the Raspberry Tiramisu recipe.
Pavlova Cupcakes With Raspberry Sauce
Pavlovas have a crispy exterior with a soft, marshmallow-like interior, and these mini ones made into cupcakes are ideal for serving to a crowd. Dollop with a little whipped cream and raspberry sauce for the perfect bite all spring and summer long.
Peach Melba
This take on peach melba continues the tradition of pairing peaches with a fresh tart-and-sweet raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. In just half an hour, you’ll have a tasty, memorable, kid-friendly dessert that will please everyone post-dinner.
Get the Peach Melba recipe.
Virgin Raspberry Mango Margarita Slushies
When it's a real scorcher, refresh with these gorgeous frozen virgin margaritas, made zesty with lots of lime. We love layering raspberry and mango for the sweet-tart tropical flavor, but strawberry and pineapple is a solid combo too.
Classic Linzer Cookies
Linzers are a classic sandwich cookie, and you can choose whatever jam you like best if you want an alternative to the raspberry. Boysenberry, apricot, or strawberry are all great. If you’d like to spice it up a bit, try stirring citrus zest into your jam after you microwave it.
Get the Classic Linzer Cookies recipe.
Sorbet
No ice cream maker? No problem! We've included a traditional recipe and a no churn recipe for this raspberry sorbet. A churned sorbet will be smoother and creamier than a no-churn one, but the no-churn sorbet is every bit as refreshing.
Get the Sorbet recipe.
Giant Fruit Danish
This giant pastry comes together easily, thanks to store-bought puff pastry dough. Change this up with your favorite seasonal fruit jam, but we particularly love raspberry jam for the most classic flavor combo.
Get the Giant Fruit Danish recipe.
Watermelon Smoothie
Watermelon and raspberries combine in this recipe to create the most refreshing drink of summer. Smoothies are one of the best grab-and-go breakfasts in the hot summer months: they’re so easy to whip up, are extra refreshing, and cool you off with every sip. Make it in the morning to wake up with a smile on your face, or as an afternoon treat to sip on by the pool.
Get the Watermelon Smoothie recipe.
Cheesecake-Stuffed Pound Cake
Want to impress, but don't have the strongest baking skills? This no-bake dessert is perfect, because it uses a store-bought pound cake! For our video, we used a loaf of our own pound cake recipe, which is quite tall. Yours might be quite a bit shorter, so we recommend halving the filling—or filling two pound cakes.
Get the Cheesecake-Stuffed Pound Cake recipe.
Blueberry Crisp
Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Lasagna
Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars
Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake
