No celebration is complete without dessert. And in the summer, every get-together should feel like a celebration—whether it's a planned-in-advance birthday celebration or the sort of casual, spontaneous backyard barbecue that tends to happen this time of year.
Fortunately, my Epi teammateKat Sackshas come up with an almost entirely make-ahead dessert that you can have at the ready at a moment's notice: key-lime pie. But not just any key-lime pie. Frozen key-lime pie.But in miniature.These individually portioned treats, which can be prepped up to the final step and stored in the freezer for up to two weeks, are guaranteed to turn any hangout into a special occasion.
If you're bringing dessert to a friend's shindig, you’ll need a dish that travels well and will look just as stunning upon arrival. And not only does this cake appear deliciously cute on the outside, it also holds a show-stopping secret. When sliced, bright, bold lines of homemade blueberry jelly reveal themselves. The sweet berry filling highlights the lemony cake and sweet, tangy glaze. It’s a combination that will definitely get you invited back.
If it’s total wow-factor you’re after, nothing surprises quite like thisice cream recipe. Topped off with sweet, dreamy butterscotch and crunchy caramel corn, the base itself is made with one of summer’s sweetest ingredients: corn.
In this recipe from New York chef April Bloomfield, peak-season corn is steeped in cream and sugar, which is then strained and blended with egg yolks. The rich, flavorful custard is frozen into an ice cream that will have you wondering why neither Ben nor Jerry have thought of it yet.
And then there’s a dessert that nearly everyone has thought of. Strawberry shortcake. The prevailing opinion around these parts is that summer isn't complete until you've had it at least once. But this is no ordinary strawberry shortcake. Our friends atBon Appétithave added cooled hard-boiled egg yolks to the biscuit dough (seriously!), which adds richness without weighing it down.
To add interest to the berries, BA layers the dessert with both homemade compote and fresh macerated strawberries. It’s the perfect combination of juicy, syrupy, sweet, and tart.
But if you need one go-to dessert this summer, this cake is it. Dubbed the "Any Occasion Cake" by its creator (the aforementioned and incredibly talented Kat), this tender buttermilk cake layered with raspberries and orange cream cheese frosting really will work for everything. It's a cookout dessert, a birthday dessert, an anniversary dessert, a potluck dessert,a wedding dessert, and—of course—a random Tuesday dessert.
