Strawberry

The slight tang of this dessert is complemented by the sweet and sour flavor of the vibrant topping. Because the panna cotta can be made so far in advance, it's an ideal choice for a party.

The most dainty and cute of the three, this little pink cake was the one that propelled me into a life in cake making and was the original inspiration for the cakes I made at Miette. For the SFMOMA, I make the Thiebaud Pink Cake pink by cooking down strawberry syrup and adding it to the buttercream, and I top the frosted cake with either a red buttercream dot or a big, ripe raspberry if they're in season. I use lemon curd in the filling because, being the giant kid that I am, I love the combination of strawberry and lemon in a dessert—to me, it always tastes like Froot Loops.

It goes without saying, but the sweeter and riper your strawberries, the better this adult slushie will taste (and look).

Prep time: About 45 minutes
Slow cooker time: About 4 hours
Oven time: 20 to 25 minutes (can occur during the slow-cooking process)
Finishing time: About 20 minutes With this juicy, flavorful dessert (slightly spicy from the peppercorns), you get the best of all worlds: the fruit cooks slowly and develops complex flavors in the slow cooker, the lemony drop biscuits turn golden in the oven, and the juices reduce on the stovetop into a thick sauce that blankets the fruit. I loved this recipe so much that I "tested" it six times! As for my children, they coined it "rhubarb dessert" and now crave rhubarb as a result. This cobbler is especially good with vanilla ice cream.
For ease, zest the lemons before squeezing them for the juice. You can make the biscuits in advance, though the dessert is most delicious when the biscuits are served warm from the oven. Purchase the reddest rhubarb you can to yield a dessert with the most vivid color. Make sure to use the amount of fruit called for—it might seem like a large quantity, but the strawberries and rhubarb cook down a lot. If you'd like to serve the dessert family style, pour it into a 9- x 12-inch baking dish.

This amazingly easy recipe is a perfect, slightly sweet ending to a decadent meal or an afternoon treat on a lazy Sunday. After blending the ingredients, all you need to do is let the mixture sit in the freezer.

This cheesecake from California’s Wente Vineyards is ethereal and easy. An Italian grandmother might scold you for not using ricotta, but good-quality mascarpone will yield a smoother, richer, and denser cheesecake. Feel free to experiment with different kinds of biscotti such as chocolate, but really, what makes this cheesecake are the balsamic strawberries, which are sweet and tart—the perfect counterpart to the cheesecake’s richness.

In this classic take on strawberry shortcake, tender buttermilk biscuits are piled high with fresh berries and lush, vanilla-scented whipped cream. We like the biscuits fresh out of the oven, but they can be baked a few hours in advance; return them to the oven for five minutes, and they’ll be as good as new.

When strawberries and rhubarb are at the peak of freshness, buy some, if only to make this pie. Be mindful of adding water slowly to the dough to achieve flaky perfection. Depending on the room temperature and humidity, the dough may need less or more water than the recipe calls for.

This coffee-cake like strawberry cake is piled high with a lemony pistachio streusel.

What could possibly be better than a strawberry milkshake? A strawberry cheesecake milkshake! The cream cheese, which has a tang of its own that's enhanced by the lemon zest, helps make this milkshake as thick as, well, concrete (the very apt Missouri term for a milkshake).
If the idea of frozen strawberries hits you as totally counter to your locavore sensibilities, know that they are another secret to a milkshake thick enough to eat with a spoon, and if you grow your own or buy them at the farmers' market, we urge you to freeze them for this shake. You'll find the directions in the Cooks' Notes at the end of the recipe. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Burger Bash. Menu also includes Bacon-Cheddar Burgers with Caramelized Onions and Homemade French Fries with Five Dipping Sauces.

Strawberries are full of vitamin C, which does double duty: It helps you burn more fat during exercise and helps build skin-firming collagen, resulting in a slimmer, prettier you!

Why use frozen berries in the summer, when local fruit is at its peak? Because we love fresh local berries so much when whole or, in the case of strawberries, when sliced as well, puréeing them seems almost a sacrilege. If, however, you've got a surplus of fresh berries, go ahead and purée them.

Michael Laiskonis uses a little sugar and the gentle heat of a double boiler to draw out the berries' juices without cooking them, yielding a vibrant sweet soup.

Want the fluffiest ice? Scrape the frozen mixture with a fork every 30 minutes to create smaller crystals.

Britton uses agave syrup to sweeten this nutty crust.

Stew fruit in parcels to infuse it with vanilla and bourbon, then serve it with a dollop of Greek yogurt (or ice cream).

Portland-based Salt & Straw adds a drop of vinegar and a hint of pepper to balance the sweetness in this strawberry shake, plus a splash of rum to make it deliciously complex in flavor. If you're making this for non-drinkers, just omit the booze.

Berries get a subtle herbal note from tea-infused whipped cream.

This sublime lemon dessert is the perfect antidote to all those chocolate bunnies and chocolate-stuffed eggs proliferating at Easter like, well…rabbits. It helps that our pudding is simple to make, too.
A seriously tart lemon curd—quickly cooked on top of the stove—is folded into sweetened whipped cream, which both tempers the tang and lightens the dessert with a suave silkiness. Crisp, airy wisps of meringue, lightly sprinkled with chopped pistachios and easily shaped and baked into cigars, are delightful on their own, but they're surprisingly efficient alternatives to spoons for delivering the pudding to your mouth. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Easter. Menu also includes Frisée, Radicchio, and Fennel Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette; and Arugula-Stuffed Leg of Lamb with Roasted Spring Vegetables; .

Backyard garden strawberries are often smaller than store-bought, so be the judge of how many strawberries you need for the skewers. Or even simpler, grill strawberries on a grill rack until a bit charred and warmed through and spoon atop frozen yogurt or ice cream.