Crisps and cobblers are fairly common fruit desserts and, when you hear either one mentioned you probably have a clear idea of what to expect. Buckles fall into the same general category, but get a lot more questioning looks when mentioned than some other fruity desserts. A “buckle” is a fruit-laden cake that gets its name from the fact that the added moisture from all the fruit can actually cause the cake to “buckle” a bit in the center. While cake batter is what gives the cake substance and structure, the dessert should have a very high fruit content. Buckles also often have a slightly crispy topping of sugar or a thin layer of streusel.

Sill loaded with fresh blueberries after making my bluberry tart, juicy blueberries were my fruit of choice for this buckle. Fresh or frozen will work equally well here. The only thing to look out for with frozen berries is that you might need an extra minute or two of baking time since there are quite a lot included in the batter and, as a result, it will go into the oven quite cold.

I also opted to give this a healthier twist by using some whole wheat flour in the batter. The slightly nutty flavor of the whole grain goes quite well with the blueberries, and the tender/grainy texture that can sometimes be associated with whole grain flour works well in a dessert that should be tender and fruit-filled anyway. Still, I did use part all purpose flour in my batter to balance everything out. If you have white whole wheat flour, you can use that in place of the whole wheat-all purpose combination that I used. I also used all purpose in the streusel topping. Whole where will work there, as well.

Everything came together well, a good balance of fruit and enough batter to hold it together and make it slice-able. It had a good whole grain flavor, but still had a light texture. The buckle isn’t too sweet, thanks to the very slight natural tartness of the blueberries - and I have to admit that I love how many berries are in this dessert. This is a good dessert when it is served warm with ice cream, but makes a great coffee cake, as well.

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Almost every shop that sells frozen yogurt is now offering “tart” yogurt, which is little more than yogurt-flavored yogurt, complete with the tang of the real thing. I like it, but not as much as I like regular yogurt or my homemade frozen yogurt, which uses a base of tangy Greek-style yogurt that is lightened with beaten egg whites. The tartness of the commercial frozen yogurt can be quite strong, and while this isn’t a bad thing in the plain yogurt variety, it’s not always a big plus for the fruit-flavored “tart” yogurts.

When it comes to these, although flavors like mango, blueberry and strawberry sound promising, the aforementioned tartness can overwhelm the flavor of the fruit. I like it when the sweetness of fresh fruit is showcased by the yogurt, not overshadowed by it. In this homemade variety, strawberries are definitely the star in the flavor department - even though a tangy yogurt is the base.

I used my usual frozen yogurt base and added lots of fresh strawberries to it, omitting vanilla and other flavorings that might mask the berries. My berries happened to be very, very sweet, but if yours aren’t quite sweet enough, you can always add a bit of extra sugar to the recipe. The only caveat to using fresh berries is that your yogurt (or ice cream, gelato, etc.) can develop large ice crystals after it has been stored for a while, since fresh fruit has a high water content. One trick that I used to make sure the yogurt stayed creamy was to add a little vodka to the mixture. This isn’t necessary and can be omitted if you prefer, but since alcohol has a lower freezing point than water, a little bit in a mixture can really help discourage the formation of large ice crystals. You can’t taste it in the finished product unless you want to try and punch up the strawberry flavor with some berry-infused vodka.

Even with the vodka, the yogurt did need to thaw a bit before it was soft enough to scoop again after a couple of days in the freezer. I like this best fresh from the ice cream maker, but a 15 minute wait for the yogurt to thaw still takes less time than a trip to the nearest frozen yogurt shop.

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An outdoor grill really is a versatile tool. You can do just about anything with it, from grilling meat to cooking veggies and even baking bread. You can also make dessert, and the simplest way to do this is to toss some fresh fruit on the grill. Heating fruit often releases sugars and makes the fruit taste sweeter. With some cooking methods, the fruit breaks down and the texture can change for the worse. Fortunately, this isn’t a problem with grilling. The high heat cooks the fruit quick and from the outside in.

Pineapple is an easy fruit to work with and it tastes great grilled (especially when it’s still warm and served with yogurt or ice cream). You can easily grill pineapple rounds, but I usually opt for spears. I start with the whole fruit, remove the outer skin and then slice it lengthwise into eighths, trimming out the core from each piece as I go. The spears are easy to handle on the grill and easy to serve. It only takes a few minutes to grill these up and you can do it while you’re cooking other things since they don’t take up much room.

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The more fruit you have in the kitchen at any given time, the more difficult it is to use it up before some of it begins to become overripe. Apples, for instance, are durable, but the majority of summer produce - stone fruits, berries, etc. - either continues to ripen on your counter or simply starts to go bad the minute it comes through the door. So, while it’s always good to have a recipe that will use up only a bit of fruit, it’s also good to have options that call for a lot.

Poaching is a great way to cook fruit in big batches. Ripe, or almost-ripe, fruit is placed in a saucepan full of some sort of flavored poaching liquid and cooked until tender. The resulting fruit can be eaten plain, with yogurt, used as a topping for cake or ice cream and in just about any other application where fruit might be appropriate. I used a lot of apriums (an apricot-plum hybrid) here. Not only do they have a great, sweet flavor, but they’re amazingly easy to split in half - so easy that I could just pop them in half without using a knife and pull out the pits!

The poaching liquid here is very simple and the flavors complement the stone fruits well. When you make it, you have two options for serving. Either you can serve the fruits on their own, or remove the fruits from the liquid and reduce it by half, until it is somewhat syrupy, then add it back to the fruit for a saucier presentation.

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As a kid, I wasn’t a big fan of peaches. I didn’t care for the fuzzy skin or the way that I always managed to end up with either a tart and underripe peach or a mealy overripe one. Then, quite by accident, I came across white peaches and my opinion of the peach changed entirely. White peaches (or summerwhite peaches) have lighter colored flesh than traditional peaches and are significantly sweeter. They also can be enjoyed over a larger window of time because they come off the tree quite sweet and don’t need the extra ripening/softening time that yellow peaches do. Although I’m much savvier about picking out deliciously ripe yellow peaches these days, white peaches will always be my favorites and are the type that I used for my summer peach cobbler.

This cobbler is very easy to make. It starts with peaches (of course!), peeled and sliced. I tend to cut my peaches into quite large chunks because they are more tender than, say, apples and don’t really need as long a cooking time. I go for 6 slices per peach for a medium-large fruit. I really like the flavor of honey and peaches together, so I added a bit of honey to the peaches before topping them off. The cobbler dough mixes up in one bowl to a fairly stiff batter. It should be dolloped on top of the peaches to give the dish a traditional “cobbled together” look - hence the name “cobbler”.

Hot from the oven and plated with vanilla bean ice cream, this dish really is a taste of summer. The peaches are so tender that they melt in your mouth and the cobbler gives you a nice base to showcase their flavor. The honey is subtle, but noticeable, in the finished dish, too. Lovely.

Because honey can cause baked goods to brown more quickly than sugar alone, you can tent the cobbler with a piece of foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking time if you feel it’s browning too much. Use a toothpick to test the cobbler dough between the cobbles (the seams, if you will) for doneness before removing the cobbler from the oven.

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Almost nothing beats a sweet and creamy mango when it is at peak ripeness. Nothing except the pairing of mango and sticky rice. The thing that really makes the Thai combination delicious is that the rice is lightly sweetened and flavored with coconut milk. Combined with the starchiness of the rice, the coconut milk gives the dessert a very rich texture. It blends well with the creamy mango, while setting off the brightness of the fruit.

All kinds of Thai restaurants have this dish on the menu, not only because it’s traditional, but because it is very simple; the dish has only a few components. It’s rare that I find a restaurant that serves a version I actually like, even when mangoes are in season. Armed with some ripe, yellow mangoes, I decided to cook up a quick version of the dish at home so I could take full advantage of my fruit.

My version of this dish is made almost like rice pudding, with coconut milk and a small amount of sugar cooked into pre-cooked sticky rice. The rice can be steamed or boiled (steamed might be more traditional, but I generally opt for the latter method), whichever you prefer. Cook the mixture until it comes to a boil, then let it stand until the coconut milk has been completely absorbed. Cool it down, slice some mangoes and you’re ready to eat.

I think that the flavors and textures are best when everything is at room temperature. If you’re not going to eat the whole batch at once, the leftovers of both rice and mangoes can be refrigerated. Pour a little extra coconut milk over the rice before refrigerating to keep things moist, as rice tends to dry out a bit in the fridge.

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