oven broken and having a dinner party. dessert ideas?

@ sexy, you're the second person to ask me that today! I will cut and paste my response: LOL (literally), no I don't work for them, although I probably would love it! I do make most of my recipes from them. And this is why: I have about six cookbooks, and my goal is to cook all of the recipes in them (I'm about half way through, after five years). I also got 12 of their magazines as free samples. My husband actually bought The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and I got Cooking for Two 2009 as a gift, so I haven't actually spent any money on their publications (don't tell them), and I won a subscription to their multi-site membership from americastestkitchenfeed, which is why it is super easy to cut and paste recipes that I like into the answer field today :) I just really really really like their recipes, probably because I'm as OCPD as they are, and because they turn out really well. I'm guessing that if I actually worked for them, I wouldn't be working off the clock for them on my time off, but as it is I do talk about them all the time.

I love the icebox cake made with Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers. It's from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and the original, peppermint, and coffee versions are all really delicious. It just has to set up in the fridge for 6 hours, and is just fine overnight too.

Just put 2 cups heavy cream, 1/4 cup confectioners sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip to soft peaks. Take 24 Nabisco wafers. With 6 cookies at a time, put 1 Tablespoon of your whipped cream on top of each one, and then stack them (it's a little messy - lol). Then put all of the stacks together side by side so that you have a very long cake that's 24 cookies long. Use the extra whipped cream to top the sides and ends with whipped cream. Put in fridge 6 hours or overnight to set.

When you're ready to serve, you can decorate it with mini chocolate chips, mini m&ms, shaved chocolate, etc. Just made it today; delish!

Pot de creme with whipped cream

Okay, I'll throw in affogato, tiramisu, berries & cream, crepes (various fillings), and blancmange into the mix.

Whip heavy cream with mascarpone, lightly sweetened and flavored with a little liqueur (limoncello, amaretto, etc.) or a drop of almond extract; slice open some very ripe fresh figs - or berries, or peaches, if you prefer - and dollop the cream mixture on top. Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds or chopped pistachios.

I don't think I'd be heating up the oven for a dessert in this heat, anyway. Ice cream with a topping of berries macerated in a complimentary liqueur is always delicious and festive - not to mention easy. And everyone loves Chocolate Mousse, don't they? No baking needed.

Bananas Foster or some sort of variation. Grilled pineapple is always a winner.
Parfaits or an ice-cream sundae bar. Lay out all your add-on's and let your guests make their own.

The local bakery.

I often do mint-infused warm honey over fruit in the summer. Grilled peaches are great, or melon. Always a hit.

My favorite -- Peach Melba

French parfait, which is like ice cream but doesn't require a machine, is a go to for me. You pretty much make a sabayon (whipped sweetened egg yolks), lighten it with whipped cream, fold in any ingredients (or keep it simple), Pour it into serving dishes/glasses and freeze. You can top it with anything you can think of. If you're interested, I'll post the recipe.

A parfait or dish of whipped cream and fruit.
Or same plus good purchased meringues.
Or aged parmesan with glasses of vin Santo .

Since it's summer (still), I would serve peaches soaked in a Sauternes or moscato, and a really good vanilla ice cream. No baking required!

Or you can make an icebox cake with whipped cream and packaged cookies.

Grilled pineapple with a rum glaze. Grilled stone fruit with coconut snow: https://food52.com/recipes/22115-grilled-stone-fruit-with-coconut-snow

Sorry to hear about your oven, but no one says no to grilled peaches. :)

If you make a creme anglaise on the stove top beforehand to dollop over the fruit it'll dress it up nicely.

Or how about a summer berry pudding? Merrill Stubbs has a recipe for it on here: https://food52.com/recipes/13392-berry-summer-pudding

My first thought is something frozen - ice cream, ice cream cake, ice cream pie, sorbet, granita .... as simple or sophisticated as you want it to be. Or, when your guests ask if they can bring something, say "Dessert!"