53 Sensational Spring Desserts
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A tray of chocolaty brownies is good for any season, but as we start considering spring desserts, we crave strawberry fools, seasonal holiday classics like carrot cake, and lots and lots of fleeting rhubarb. These are the sweet treats we wait all winter to make—when fresh berries finally arrive at the farmers market and sunnier, longer days mean brighter, airier desserts feel most appropriate.
These are the dessert recipes we love to make for spring’s first gatherings, when the weather’s turned just a bit warmer, and the ones we save for when the season’s in full bloom and spring produce is fresh and ripe. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Can’t you smell it?
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich2/53Anytime Lemon Cake
This tender lemon cake is endlessly versatile. Serve it plain; top slices with a spoonful of mascarpone, ice cream, or fruit; turn it into cupcakes; or double the batter and make a layer cake finished with lemon curd and buttercream.
5/53One-Hour Apricot and Almond Galette
Thanks to store-bought puff pastry, this galette can be assembled in next to no time. If almonds aren’t your thing, try pistachios, pecans, poppy seeds, or pine nuts.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Mira Evnine8/53Thandai Poke Cake
Like an Indian-spiced tres leches cake, this dessert’s flavors are inspired by thandai, a milky aromatic drink enjoyed during Holi, the Hindu spring celebration.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart9/53Fresh Strawberry Cake
With both fresh strawberries and store-bought strawberry jam, you can be sure this spring dessert brings big fruit flavor. A dash of almond extract in the batter complements the berries nicely, but you can swap in vanilla if allergies are a concern.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Prop styling by Alexandra Massillon, Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne10/53Flan de Queso
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber11/53Pastel Butter Cookies
To give almond shortbread cookies the Easter-egg treatment, dust them with tinted powdered sugar blended with finely ground freeze-dried blueberries, raspberries, and mango (or any fruit that floats your fancy).
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton12/53Daffodil Cake
This cloud-like dessert has all the joy of angel food cake—but it uses the yolks too, so nothing goes to waste. (Read more about the history of Daffodil Cake.)
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich13/53Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Tapioca and cornstarch work in tandem to set this pie perfectly without making it stodgy. The bottom pie crust is flaky pastry, but the top is a cinnamon-sugar crumb topping that’ll perfume your whole house.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou16/53Golden Beet Cake With Cream Cheese Ermine Frosting
Senior cooking editor Joe Sevier took his great grandmother’s carrot cake recipe and swapped in golden spring beets, almonds for pecans, and a bevy of aromatic spices. On top: The dreamiest frosting you’ll ever make.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Emilie Fosnocht20/53Rhubarb Cake
A swipe of store-bought jam gives this cake a glossy sheen. We used strawberry, but you could also use apricot or plum jam or go all out and make homemade raspberry jam.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Liberty Fennell21/53Lemon Pound Cake
“After years of searching for a recipe that could come close to the outrageously good pound cakes made from scratch by my southern relatives, I was delighted to have finally found one,” writes one Epi reader. Serve this “rich, dense, and super moist cake” with lemon blueberry compote for even more of a wow factor.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton22/53Crunchy, Creamy Key Lime Pie Bites on Ice Cream
These little bites are like frozen Key lime pies with flipped proportions of salty graham cracker crust and tangy lime custard. They’re the ideal topping for vanilla or coconut ice cream.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou23/53Tahini Chiffon Cake With Burnt Honey Cream and Poached Rhubarb
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by M. Pearl Jones24/53Grated Shortbread Bars With Rose Jam
If you can’t find rose petal jam for these buttery cardamom-spiced bar cookies (psst: you can buy it online), substitute raspberry jam gilded with a splash of rose water.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks25/53Vanilla-Buttermilk Layer Cake With Orange Frosting and Raspberries
Citrusy and dressed up in spring berries, this would be an ideal cake for an Easter party. Prefer a single-layer or sheet-cake version? How about a homemade wedding cake? We’ve got those too.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton26/53Blueberry Crumble Pie
To make this pie even easier, skip the homemade bottom crust and turn to our favorite store-bought pie crust—the crumble topping will steal the show either way.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano and Stevie Stewart27/53Original New York Cheesecake
This classic New York dessert uses a sponge cake recipe as the base, not a graham cracker crust—all the better for soaking up syrup from the homemade strawberry preserves you’ll spoon over the top.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich29/53Tiramisu Bundt Cake
Why make any old bundt cake when you can make this one, which is studded with chocolate and brushed with sweetened coffee, giving it the telltale flavor of classic tiramisu.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber30/53Goat Butter Shortbread
Goat’s milk butter is mildly tangy, complementing the whole wheat flour and wheat germ in these cookies. These cookies make outstanding ice cream sandwiches. But you could also serve them with a round of fresh strawberry milkshakes.
Photo by Myles New33/53Fruity Berry Tarts With Vanilla Cashew Cream
These elegant tarts are the ideal Easter dessert (or any time dessert) when you need something dairy-free and gluten-free, but no less showstopping.
Photo by John Kernick36/53Rhubarb Turnovers
These simple spring hand pies are packed to the brim with tangy sweetened rhubarb. Stash the cooled pies into a picnic lunch, or serve them warm with an equally tangy buttermilk-lemon granita.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle37/53Almond-Apricot Food Processor Cake
This wonderfully moist cake comes together quickly in the food processor. A third of the fruit is puréed and mixed into the batter, while the rest is sliced and folded in, infusing sunny apricot flavor throughout.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson38/53Classic Carrot-Coconut Cake
This take on carrot cake is a Texas tradition. Ours has a healthy dose of ginger and cinnamon and cream cheese frosting sprinkled with pretty coconut flakes for a beautiful finishing touch.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Anna Stockwell39/53Flourless Pistachio Cake With Strawberry Meringue
Photo by Dana Gallagher42/53Sheet-Pan Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake
With its perky cream cheese frosting, this towering lemon cake is ready for a party, be it a Mother’s Day celebration or a spring dinner party with friends.
44/53Sour Cherry and Lemon Ice-Box Cake
This no-bake dessert calls for frozen sour cherries, so you can make it even if you can’t find fresh ones.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, prop styling by Brian Heiser, food styling by Rhoda Boone45/53Coconut Milk Custard With Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote
Blending shredded coconut with water creates the milky base for this custard—and cuts back on some of the richness. A duo of toppings (bright pink strawberry--rhubarb compote and crunchy pistachios makes this a spring-forward dessert.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart46/53Mascarpone-Filled Cake With Sherried Berries
Photo by Sam Harris48/53Roasted Strawberry Crème Brûlée
You could make a classic crème brûlée and garnish it with strawberries—or you could make this one, which keeps the berries hidden inside for a fun surprise once guests crack in.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Caroline Hwang, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime.49/53Apricot Tart With Whiskey-Pecan Frangipane
Photograph by Christopher Testani, Food styling by Victoria Granof, prop styling by Alex Brannian50/53Lavender-Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Crunchy on the outside and chewy within, these cookies are delicately floral and beautifully bright. Look for culinary lavender among the spices or teas of your local grocer or online.
Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich52/53Mix-and-Match Fools
