If you ask me, summer fruit, whether a bowl of blackberries or perfectly ripe peach, qualifies as dessert all on its own. Just ask chef Alice Waters, who has been known to serve whole fruit, entirely unadorned, at her world renowned restaurant, Chez Panisse. That being said, it’s quite satisfying to transform summer fruits into tarts, crisps, frozen treats, and beyond. Here you’ll find 8 scrumptious summer fruit desserts that make the most of what’s best this time of year. They all lean a little more wholesome, while still satisfying a sweet tooth.

A Staple Summer Fruit Dessert

Before we dig in, I thought I’d share a quick “how to” on making fruit compote. It’s one of my favorite things to do with summer fruits, particularly when they are bruised, overripe, or I just have more than I can get through. You can find a full recipe in my book Rise & Shine or here, but the approach is roughly as follows:

Put one to two tablespoons of water and honey into a small/medium pot (figure 2 tablespoons for every 1 pound of fruit).
Pile pitted, sliced peaches/nectarines/plums, pitted cherries, or any berries into a pot.
Set the pot over high heat until the liquid starts to bubble. Drop the heat so the liquid simmers, put on a lid, and cook until the fruit is very soft, but hasn’t completely lost its shape.
Spoon the warm fruit over ice cream, frozen yogurt, or plain Greek yogurt.