Beat the Heat With Our Best-Ever Summer Cakes and Pies

Recipe: Red Velvet-Berry Cobbler

Pick out your favorite fresh summer berries for this dish (we used a combo of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) and top or layer with homemade cream cheese ice cream — or the vanilla ice cream you have in the freezer, if the cobbler was enough cooking for one day.

Recipe: Lemon Meringue Ice-Cream Pie

A homemade vanilla wafer crust, homemade lemon curd filling and homemade meringue topping will make this pie the furthest thing from store-bought at the potluck.

Recipe: Strawberry-Pretzel Icebox Pie

Satisfy both your sweet tooth and salty cravings with this refreshing summer pie.

Recipe: Easy Mocha Chip Ice-Cream Cake

Even though this ice-cream cake is easy to put together, it's truly decadent. The homemade mocha ganache on top is too good to be so simple to make.

Recipe: Key Lime Icebox Cake

This cake is so pretty, no one will have any idea it was no-bake. A tip from our kitchen: Add the lime juice once you've fully cooked the custard to let the cornstarch thicken the mixture properly.

Recipe: Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Peach Pie

This pie combines one of our favorite sweet summer fruits, the peach, with rich brown sugar and cinnamon for an array of flavors. Cool it off with a scoop of good ole vanilla ice cream.

Recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream Cake

If you’re craving minty chocolate chip ice cream, step it up to an ice-cream cake made with devil’s food cake and topped with rich chocolate ganache.

Recipe: Strawberry Semifreddo Shortcake

Fresh strawberries with strawberry sorbet and marshmellow crème in layers surrounded by ladyfingers? This is the prettiest, pinkest, most delicious summer cake — perfect for a girl baby shower!

Recipe: Peach Upside-Down Cake

This warm summer cake wouldn’t be quite finished without a dollop of whipped cream on top. A tip from our kitchen: Be sure to use cake flour — not self-rising — for this recipe.

Recipe: Blueberry-Cheesecake Ice-Cream Pie

This no-bake pie made with homemade blueberry-cheesecake ice cream looks beautiful topped with fresh-from-the-market blackberries and blueberries.

Recipe: Berry Pies

This mini berry pies are an easy pick-up dessert for large crowds at a buffet-style gathering.

Recipe: Key Lime Ice-Cream Pie

We can’t get enough of tangy key lime in the summer, and this ice-cream pie is a cool twist on the classic key lime pie you know and love.

Recipe: Plum Shortbread Tart

From the kitchen of Kelly Sterling, a reader and recipe developer from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this plum shortbread tart makes use of a sweet summer fruit that doesn't get enough attention. 

Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Ice-Cream Pie

This ice-cream pie is for the chocolate-lover in your family, and the graham cracker crust has a little kick from ground cinnamon and ground red pepper. Bonus: The whipped topping has coffee liqueur in it.

Recipe: Peanut Butter-Banana Icebox Pie

For the one who loves peanut butter-banana everything, this icebox pie is both rich and airy.

Recipe: Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This summer dessert looks like a classic Southern pound cake from the outside, but the real reason for its name is revealed when you cut into it.

Recipe: Whiskey Pie with Tipsy Berries

This whiskey pie with summer tipsy berries is the boozy dessert you need at your summer party.

Recipe: Peanut-Cola Cake

This cola-infused cake is topped with our dreamy peanut butter frosting.