Red, White, and Blue Recipes

Sparkling Ice Cream Floats with Berries Recipe

Who knew the ultimate summer dessert would be the simplest you’ve ever made? These delightfully sweet and boozy floats take only a few ingredients and about two seconds to whip up, but trust us—they are always sure to impress. Rossini is a sparkling wine beverage, usually Prosecco-based, that is mixed with strawberries and raspberries. It is sweeter and fruitier than a rosé or other sparkling wine so it makes a delicious combination with rich vanilla ice cream (we especially love Häagen-Dazs brand here). We found a great one at Trader Joe’s for just about $6, but if you have a hard time finding rossini, you can definitely use your favorite rosé. 

Blueberry Bread Pudding With Lemon Hard Sauce Recipe

Pre-made Sara Lee pound cakes are the perfect base for a creamy, decadent bread pudding. Once thawed, we cube and toast the all butter pound cakes in then oven before dressing them up with vanilla custard base, lemon zest, and fresh blueberries. After baking the pudding to custardy, comforting perfection, a drizzle of lemony hard sauce is just the right finishing touch. This delightful pound cake bread pudding is easy enough to throw together anytime, but impressive enough to serve for company. 

Tahini-Blueberry Sheet Cake With Strawberry Buttercream Recipe

Perfect for a graduation party or summer cookout, this impressive dessert offers the ease and crowd-friendly factor that we associate with a sheet cake, as well as a delightful twist of creativity and surprising vibrancy with the incorporation of tahini and fresh berries. If you have a jar of the trendy sesame seed paste hanging out in your pantry, trust us—it’s high time to go beyond hummus and welcome it into your dessert life. Tahini lends a delicious toasty quality to the tender cake while fresh blueberries dotted throughout the batter balance this nutty depth with their bright, juicy sweetness. A simple strawberry buttercream ties everything together and makes for a low-effort, eye-catching presentation. 

Watermelon-Strawberry-Granola Breakfast Bowls Recipe

Why toss the rind? Jumpstart sunny summer days by filling them with peak-season watermelon, strawberries, and chopped mint. 

Rosé-Poached Berries Are the Warm Weather Dessert You Deserve  Recipe

Fresh strawberries briefly and gently poach in vanilla- and thyme-scented rosé wine for a versatile spring condiment: Serve it for dessert over ice cream, angel food cake, or pound cake; or use it at breakfast to top your yogurt or oatmeal. You can also try this technique with raspberries or blackberries if they’re more plentiful at the farmers market. If your rosé is on the sweet side, start with 1 tablespoon of honey, and add more as needed.

Strawberry Dream Cake Recipe

This gorgeous cake is even more amazing when you slice into it, revealing the rows of perfect strawberries.

Deep Eddy Blueberry Lemon Drop Pop Recipe

These adult ice pops are the perfect refreshing summer treat. We made ours using Deep Eddy vodka as we find it to be exceptionally vibrant in flavor, but feel free to use your own favorite brand of flavored vodka. Raspberries would also be a delicious fruit to highlight in these bright and boozy pops. 

Berry Cobbler with Pecan Sandie Streusel Recipe

The toasty, nutty streusel topping is a surprising twist on the classic berry cobbler.

Rosé Sangria Recipe

Perfect for any spring or summer gathering, this bubbly, refreshing rosé sangria is as easy to make as it is to sip. The fruity base of berry puree and vodka could easily be prepped ahead of time and chilled so that all that’s left to do is pour in your sparkling water and rosé right before serving. You could even prepare the sangria in single portions for more of a custom cocktail feel, having a small amount of puree, vodka, and fresh fruit ready to go in glasses when guests arrive; then, simply top each off with bubbly as needed. To switch things up, you could also substitute fresh peaches and/or raspberries in place of the strawberries used to create the puree. Try freezing some of the fresh fruits you plan to include (such as grapes and berries) beforehand in order to keep the beverage cool. 

Blueberry Corn Muffins Recipe

When blueberries are in season, you find a reason to tuck them into just about anything and everything. Why? Because a burst of blueberry has a way of making almost everything better; that’s certainly the case with these corn muffins. Plump summer blueberries and corn are simply meant for one another. The fresh berries bring a fresh sweetness to the muffins, as well as moisture that makes for an insanely tender muffin. The buttermilk in this recipe is also key to achieving an exceptionally soft, rich muffin. The muffins bake at a high temperature in order to to get the golden color and crispy edges that you expect from classic cornbread. These hearty and delightful muffins are ideal both for a relaxed weekend brunch with friends, as well as an on-the-go breakfast while running out the door in the morning. 

Lemonade Blueberry Pops Recipe

These popsicles turn a pale pink thanks to a little kitchen chemistry when the blue pigment in the berries meets the acid in the lemonade. You can use any mold you like for these popsicles, but you'll get a different number of pops depending on the mold size.

Mixed Berry Cream Pie with Double Chocolate Crust Recipe

Brushing red currant jelly onto the berries makes them shine, like those fruit tarts you see in bakeries. If you can't find red currant jelly, use strawberry jelly (don't subsitute jam or preserves). 

Bordeaux-Style Strawberries Recipe

In Bordeaux, where châteaus and vineyards abound, a typical dessert is fresh straw­berries sliced into a red wine glass and then topped with a great Bordeaux. Here, that regional tradition is adapted to make it more dessert-like. If you're pressed for time, do as the Bordelais do--quick and easy.

Cherry Berry Cocktail Recipe

This vodka cocktail is berry bliss. Garnish with a handful of your favorite berries skewered on a cocktail pick or straw. 

Stuffed Berries Recipe

By stuffing hollowed out strawberries with a scrumptious mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and amaretto, you end up with a delectable treat that's bound to disappear off of summer plates. For an easy July 4th treat, cap each stuffed strawberry with a blueberry to achieve a red, white, and blue bite! 

Nectarine-Blueberry Crisp Recipe

With a buttery, crunch-tastic oat and brown sugar topping partnered with the super simple filling that highlights the best of what ripe berries and stone fruit have to offer, this sweet and satisfying crisp is the ultimate in summer desserts. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a treat no one can resist. The best part about this recipe is that it can be used with most any of your favorite summer fruits. Try substituting plump, juicy peaches for the nectarines and blackberries for the blueberries next time you want to change things up. 

Stovetop Summer Fruit Crisp Recipe

Traditional? No. Delicious? Oh, yes. This quick-fix take hits all the highlights of a classic berry crisp--syrupy-sweet fruit, crisp topping, and cool cream--in a fraction of the time.

Blue Velvet Dream Recipe

This fruity drink is truly a dream. Blue Curaçao gives the drink its signature blue color, while the velvet falernum adds a splash of sweet and spicy vibes.

Ricotta Lemon-Blueberry Waffles Recipe

A sweet berry mixture tops these ricotta cheese-flavored waffles. 

American Flag Cheesecake Bars Recipe

Show your pride by flying the flag and also serving it for dessert. Betsy Ross would be proud.

Strawberry Shortcake Deep-Dish Skillet Cookie Recipe

Everyone's favorite summer berry dessert gets transformed into a giant deep-dish skillet cookie. White chocolate chips, bits of pound cake and sliced strawberries join forces to create this fruity indulgence that gives a chocolate chip cookie a run for its money. Mix in other fresh berries for a varied flavor and slightly adapted take on strawberry shortcake.

Easy Berry Tart Recipe

This vibrant and impressive dessert literally couldn’t get any easier. Rather than making a stovetop custard from-scratch, we use boxed pudding mix combined with Cool Whip (trust us on this one) as a shortcut to the rich and luscious vanilla filling that makes this tart amazing. Once you pour this decadent filling into your simple almond and cookie crumb crust, all that’s left to do is let it chill, and then top it off with plenty of fresh fruit. We used various types of summer berries—strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries—for ours, but feel free to use your favorite fruits here… fresh, ripe peaches would make a great addition. To amp up the almond flavor, try adding 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to your filling. Or hey, if almonds really aren’t your thing, you can definitely substitute a different nut (like macadamias) or simply leave them out all together and increase the amount of cookie crumbs in your crust by about 1/3 cup.

Berry Tartlets Recipe

These dainty little tarts have an unusual depth of character, thanks to their graham-cracker-like crusts.

Red, White and Blue Ice Pops Recipe

Celebrate red, white, and blue all summer long with these patriotic ice pops. The secret ingredient is a blue sports drink, along with cranberry juice and lemonade. They’re easy enough for the kids to make themselves.

Fourth of July Confetti Roulade Recipe

This festive roulade recipe is the perfect ending to your outdoor picnic, but it can be used for any occasion; simply use different colored sprinkles to match your occasion. A splash of orange liqueur is optional in the creamy filling, but don’t skip the fresh lemon juice in the frosting. The gelatin in the whipped cream filling keeps it stable; be sure to cool it for 5 minutes so it doesn’t turn gummy.

White Balsamic-Marinated Berries with Sweet Buttermilk Curd Recipe

This creamy dessert is a mix of sweet, tart, and tangy sensations. Honey granules are available at specialty markets or online at amazon.com. You can double this recipe to serve a larger crowd. Use 2 bowls to freeze the buttermilk, and thaw simultaneously in 2 colanders. There is a considerable amount of whey once the buttermilk thaws. Don't toss it all; Doug Flicker recommends using it for an added boost in smoothies or adding it to cream soups and sauces for a tangy touch of acidity.

Gingered Blueberry Shortcake Recipe

Sweet, juicy, peak-season berries make this dish shine. For convenience, make the berry mixture, whipped cream, and shortcakes in advance, then assemble just before serving. Prepare the berry mixture and whipped cream earlier in the day, and refrigerate; bring berry mixture to room temperature or warm slightly in a pan before serving. Make the shortcakes as time permits, freeze them, then defrost at room temperature when ready to serve.

Red, White, and Blue Ice-Cream Cake Recipe

Celebrate the 4th of July with a sweet salute! This patriotic spin on ice-cream cake is the coolest dessert of the summer!

Quick Berry Frozen Yogurt Recipe

Quick Berry Frozen Yogurt is described by one tester as "a melt-in-your-mouth experience like no other!" Quick Berry Frozen Yogurt is definitely a summer treat you and your family will love.

Celebration Cupcakes Recipe

Double the berries, double the deliciousness. These tender cupcakes can be made ahead and frozen; frost them before serving. Use smaller blueberries for better distribution in the batter. In a pinch? Use thawed, frozen blueberries. Cupcakes are a welcome treat at any occasion. This recipe makes 24, but go ahead and make two batches and freeze some for a future date. Both the cupcake recipe and the frosting recipe make delicious use of fresh, seasonal produce. The cupcakes, loaded with sweet blueberries, are good enough to eat unfrosted, and can stand in for a delicious breakfast or mid-morning treat. The frosting oozes with fresh strawberries. You may want to keep a bowl close by in the fridge; it makes a great dip for fruit and cookies.

Red Velvet Ice-Cream Cake Recipe

You are sure to set off the fireworks when you serve this eye-catching layer cake at the Fourth of July cookout.  Don’t worry about the frosting wilting in the summer heat. We added a teaspoon of unflavored gelatin to the frosting recipe to help it  stabilize, so it won’t melt down before you cut into the cake.

Red, White, and Blue Layer Cake Recipe

This colorful layered cake plays in the patriotic colors of the Fourth of July.

Greek Yogurt with Warm Black and Blueberry Sauce Recipe

For a sweet, fruity treat that won't cost you a days-worth of calories, this simple yogurt bowl is the perfect solution. When making this Greek Yogurt with Warm Black and Blueberry Sauce in the summer, substitute fresh berries for frozen. This sauce also pairs well with biscuits or as a stand-in for syrup on pancakes.

Star-Spangled Sundaes Recipe

Sure, you can make sundaes out of almost anything, but when you’re going for a patriotic theme, choose red, white and blue sprinkles, candy and ice cream. And don’t forget the cherry on top.

All-Star Berry Tart Recipe

Rich pastry cream provides the white and raspberries and blueberries in the shape of a star are the red and blue in this colorful holiday dessert. It’s a super-easy recipe that’s sure to impress your guests.

Red, White, and Blueberry-Filled Cupcakes Recipe

Tender and moist cupcakes with a fruity filling and topped with a tangy cream cheese icing — all the best of summer in one little package. This recipe can easily be doubled if you need a dessert for a large gathering. The jammy blueberry filling is a sweet surprise inside each cupcake but, if you prefer strawberry, simply replace the fruit and preserves.

Berry Cream Tart Recipe

Spread a sweet cream cheese filling over a refrigerated pie crust and top with fresh berries. Unfurl your creative spirit as you arrange the berries on the tart.

Easy Strawberry Cobbler Recipe

Just because it’s easy doesn’t mean this biscuit-topped strawberry cobbler won’t impress. In fact, bursting with vibrant berry flavor (regardless of how perfectly ripe your strawberries may or may not be), we can just about guarantee that it will. We keep this stunning berry dessert stunningly simple by using Bisquick baking mix for the topping. The bottoms of each fluffy biscuit soaks up luscious juices from the berries while the tops bake up golden-crisp. And sprinkling the cobbler’s Bisquick topping with a bit of turibinado sugar is a pro’s touch for adding visual and textural interest. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for the full cobbler experience. 

Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes Recipe

This is a real dandy. It would be a great addition to your July 4th celebration spread. The amusing effect of the swirled frosting can be duplicated using any colors for any occasion, but we think it's very necessary for July 4th!

Blueberry Lemon Monkey Bread Recipe

Red, White, and Blueberry Doughnuts with Tie-Dye Glaze Recipe

What's more American than doughnuts? In the spirit of America and progress and freedom, we give you this new take on a whole-grain doughnut—baked (not fried) and made with white whole-wheat flour. Pipe out your own doughnuts for a fun Fourth of July treat with fewer calories and grams of fat than any traditional variety. We're using a tie-dye glaze to add a fun patriotic touch to these fluffy bites, but you could keep it simple with a few sprinkles on the glaze. The tie-dye glazing technique is easier than it seems. Simply make a glaze, drop some natural food dye into the mix, swirl with a toothpick, and drizzle onto baked treats. The ribbons of color will create a rippled, tie-dye effect for your modernly patriotic get-together.

Red, White, and Blueberry Doughnuts with Tie-Dye Glaze

This story originally appeared on Cookinglight.com.

Strawberry Lemonade Vodka Pops Recipe

You’ve finally got an excuse to order those plastic ice pop sleeves from Amazon. These boozy ice pops are like a grown-up Dole Fruit and Juice bar and perfect for a hot summer night or your next backyard barbecue. 

Strawberry-Rhubarb Salad Recipe

This salad is a delightfully unexpected way to use the fresh rhubarb and berries that are just coming into season. The dressing on this bright, beautiful salad is a happy meeting between sweet and tart flavors, the almonds add a nice crunch for variety of texture, and a hint of mint makes a fresh dish feel even more so. Avoid overcooking the rhubarb; it should still have some crispness. This colorful salad would make a beautiful addition to any brunch, luncheon, or even everyday lunch, and it can be served at room temperature or chilled. Fresh rhubarb and strawberries are available through the spring and into the summer months, so this quick, easy side dish can be on your recipe rotation all season long. Reserve leftover rhubarb syrup for sweetening iced tea or drizzling over ice cream.

The Best American Flag Cake Ever Recipe

July Fourth never looked so good. But why stop there? Celebrate any American holiday with this festive, fruit-covered American flag cake recipe. It's sure to stand out at even the most festive picnic.

Red, White, and Blue Pops Recipe

Keep the layers distinct by fully freezing each one before adding the next.

Captain America Cupcakes Recipe

Captain America Cupcakes are super easy to make with our pintable Captain America cupcake topper stencils. These cupcakes are perfect for superhero birthday parties, and even for the 4th of July!

Red, White, and Blue Cake Recipe

Slice a red velvet cake into four layers and fill with whipped cream and berries for a dessert that's worthy of fireworks.

Stars-and-Stripes Cherry Pie Recipe

Let your inner pastry chef shine as you cut stars and stripes from refrigerated pie crusts to make a patriotic pie.

Sour Cherry Breakfast Parfait Recipe

If you’re a loyal local shopper and you spot sour cherries at the farmers’ market, grab as many as you can. Sour cherry season is so short, you need to make the most of it while it’s in full swing. Spend an afternoon pitting them and making the most beautiful magenta cherry sauce, which you can use for pies, dessert sauces, or my favorite, a breakfast parfait. Pitting sour cherries, also known as pie cherries, is messy work, so grab your kids, pull a stool up to the counter, and make it a family affair. All that effort and time spent in the kitchen will pay off in the perfect grab-and-go breakfast to savor all week long.

Sour Cherry Breakfast Parfait

Ingredients

Variations

Build a banana-maple parfait.

Layer 1 sliced banana over the yogurt, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons maple syrup. 

Build an almost-apple pie parfait.

Spoon ⅓ cup applesauce over the yogurt, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons maple syrup.

Excerpted from Scratch: Home Cooking For Everyone Made Simple, Fun, and Totally Delicious. Copyright © 2016 by Maria Rodale. The book is available October 11, 2016. Pre-order now.

American Flag Crepe Cake Recipe

Sure, we love the classic Fourth of July sheet cake decorated with fresh fruit. But this year, we’ve upped the ante, creating a delicious, towering crepe cake that will wow everyone at the party. Though it appears to consist of blue crepes stacked on top of red, as soon as you slice into it you’ll reveal the fun surprise. By creating a blue ring around red batter on the top half of the crepes, every slice resembles an American flag. The big reveal is bound to go down as the best party trick ever. And if you’ve never made a crepe cake, it’s easier than it sounds, because it truly doesn’t matter if your crepes are misshapen (any imperfections are hidden under swirls of cream cheese frosting). To speed up the process, get two crepe pans going at once.

American Flag Crepe Cake

Ingredients

This recipe originally appeared on Realsimple.com.

Red, White, and Blue Berry Cake Recipe

Warmed Berries with Honey and Fresh Cheese Recipe

You may adapt this dessert to your taste by adjusting the blend of berries, the amount of honey, or even the amount of cheese. The idea is luxury in the amount of berries. Fromage blanc is wonderfully subtle; you can sub Greek yogurt, which is tangier.

Berry Swirl Gelato Cake Recipe

Store-bought waffle cones and gelato bring this impressive dessert together. We like Talenti brand gelato for its softer, easy-to-spread texture.

Rosé-Glazed Strawberry Tart Recipe

The rectangular tart pan makes for a striking presentation, but if you don't have one, you can use a 9-inch tart pan or pie plate.

Blackberry Jam Cake Recipe

Inspired by her Aunt Julie’s blackberry jam cake, Damaris Phillips created this showstopping version. The caramel cream cheese frosting is slightly savory to balance out the sweetness of this three-layer cake.

Blackberry Gin Fizz Recipe

For the perfect layer of creamy froth on top of each cocktail, be prepared to shake the cocktail shaker (with no ice) vigorously; the half-and-half helps set the egg white for a more stable foam.

Sweet Summer Strawberry Tart Recipe

After finding a fly in her bottle of Mouton Cadet Rouge, chef and cookbook author Joanne Weir, then 24, had the gumption to mail the insect to the wine's maker, Château Mouton Rothschild, one of the top wineries in the world. In response to her complaint, she received an invitation to lunch at the château. She booked a flight immediately. This recipe is her re-creation of the day's finale--a tart "topped with a silky smooth kirsch pastry cream and crowned with perfectly glazed, ripe red strawberries."