Too Many Cooks: Fruit for Dessert

You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.

Fruit desserts are good after dinner. But they're even better the next morning, pulled out of the fridge under a veil of plastic wrap, and eaten with a fork. Spring and summer are the times to put fruit in our desserts, and to eat pie for breakfast. So we're wondering:

What's your favorite fruit dessert? (Extra points to those who use words like pandowdy.)

Do you like neat, lattice-topped pies or messy slumps? Tell us in the comments!

Amanda: Hands down: pavlova.

Christina: Bananas Foster has always had my heart. But x2 on Amanda's pavlova.

Merrill: Pavlova and Eton Mess are right up there. Also cut-up peaches and blueberries with brown sugar and cream. And you can't forget Summer Pudding...this question is hard!

Jennifer: Freshly baked blueberry pie -- served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream.

Sarah S: Blueberry buckle, which also happens to be my favorite fruit for breakfast.

Lindsay: Rhubarb anything. I'm churning up a batch of vegan rhubarb ice cream right now! 

Beatrice: Strawberry rhubarb napoleon with honey cardamom whipped cream filling!

Bryce: Peach pie. Sometimes with basil if I'm feeling fancy. 

Sarah J: Lemon meringue pie. The only problem is that the meringue loses its oomph after day one -- all the more reason to eat it quickly!

Stephanie: Raspberry clafoutis. It's custard and raspberries and that makes me happy.

Amanda Li: Mango shaved ice with condensed milk.

Kristen: Strawberry shortcake, but after the Canal House Cooks Lunch email I just got, whipped cream is getting the boot for salted butter.

Marian: As of yesterday, it's Amanda's plum tart. 

Maddy: Wild strawberry custard tartlet with meringue. I'm working to recreate the one I had in Italy, but need to find fingernail-size strawberries. (So maybe that's not the most appetizing description, but that's what size they were!)

Michael: Berries and cream in a bowl, with a spoon. Or berries and crème fraîche with brown sugar.

Lauren: Before discovering the life-changing Coconut Tres Leches on Tuesday, I would have joined Kristen on team strawberry shortcake. 

Karl: Cherimoya -- it can be eaten just like a dessert out of its skin! It was in season when I lived in California -- but for now, rhubarb and berries hit the spot.

Brette: RASPBERRY SWAMP PIE. I also love crumbles. But The Swamp wins.

Kenzi: Can I say Cherpumple? Does that count? 

Tell us: what are your favorite fruity desserts?