Food Desserts & Baking Sparkling Spring Dessert Recipes By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 5, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Carson Downing The flavors of lemon, lime, mango, raspberries and more sparkle in our recipes for treats like cakes, mousse, meringues, cream puffs and cookies. 01 of 25 Raspberry-Lemon Cakelets Carson Downing Tender from cake flour and bright with citrus, this butter cake—baked in a single sheet pan—is delicious and begs for pairing with tea or a glass of bubbly. Ultimate Cake Recipes View Recipe 02 of 25 Tropical Mango Mousse Brie Passano This light, airy treat features the perfect level of mango sweetness. Top with sliced kiwi and toasted coconut, and it's ready for dessert or a brunch buffet. View Recipe 03 of 25 Sunny-Side Up Pavlovas Cameron Sadeghpour Perfect farm-fresh eggs are the inspiration for these crisp, mini meringues topped with cream and lemon curd. Serve au naturel or scatter them with fresh mint leaves, if you like. View Recipe 04 of 25 Strawberry Charlotte Blaine Moats This old-fashioned cake holds up to slicing after 6 hours, but the cookies soften more with a longer rest, making it a make-ahead dream. Luscious Strawberry Dessert Recipes View Recipe 05 of 25 Blackberry Galette Blaine Moats Chef Katharine Elder at Kansas' Elderslie Farm makes her fold-over berry tarts in two sizes: petite for sharing with a friend or pie-size like this, to slice and top with the farm's goat milk gelato. Blackberry Lemon Scones View Recipe 06 of 25 Mojito Bars Carson Downing Jacob Van Patten pours a refreshing cocktail into his creative take on lemon bars, which took the overall blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair. The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes View Recipe 07 of 25 Malted Strawberry Cream Puffs The malted whipped cream in these fruity cream puffs is a revelation—make it alone to top pies, sundaes or hot cocoa, and be sure to lick the beaters! View Recipe 08 of 25 Schaum Torte Our double-decker version of a Wisconsin supper club classic stacks two semisoft meringue "cake" layers, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and fruit. You can make the whipped cream and meringue layers 24 hours ahead (tightly cover the latter). But wait to assemble the torte until right before serving—and invite plenty of friends. It's a quick-to-melt, eat-it-all-at-once kind of dessert. View Recipe 09 of 25 Candied Lemon Pound Cake This moist, buttery pound cake has a triple threat of lemon: Chopped candied peel speckles the interior, and thin strips dance along the top, over a sheen of puckery lemon icing. The recipe comes from Nathaniel Reid Bakery in St. Louis. Tempting Lemon Dessert Recipes 10 of 25 Coconut Macaroons In all our years of testing, we've rarely found a cookie recipe as crazy-simple as this reliable crowd-pleaser. These cookies taste great au naturel—but dipping the bottoms in chocolate adds easy decadence (and looks eye-catching on a cookie tray). View Recipe 11 of 25 Best-Ever Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Strawberry-rhubarb pie filling gets a touch of zesty ginger flavor, then goes into a slice-and-bake crust. Rhubarb Recipes We Love View Recipe 12 of 25 Meyer Lemon Pots de Crème with Honeyed Kumquats The creamy lemon puddings look and taste sophisticated but are actually quite simple to make, and they can even be prepared in advance. View Recipe 13 of 25 Raspberry Cheesecake Bars Layers of cheesecake, raspberry filling, almonds and coconut form dessert bars perfect for picnics and potlucks. Mouthwatering Raspberry Dessert Recipes View Recipe 14 of 25 Cappuccino Meringue Tart Capturing all the flavors of an afternoon at the neighborhood coffeehouse (and using both yolks and whites, but in different ways), this glam tart features a biscotti-like crust made of almondy amaretti cookies, smooth espresso filling and "foam" made of soft meringue. View Recipe 15 of 25 Lemon Sugar Cookies Carson Downing The light lemon flavor gives these sparkling sugar cookies a little special twist. Judy Kiburz Harrison's recipe won best-in-class at the Iowa State Fair. View Recipe 16 of 25 Towering Pavlova Minneapolis-based Instagram star and pro baker Zoe Francois shared this recipe for a gorgeously shaped pavlova that rises higher than all the competition. It's filled with whipped cream, lemon curd, raspberries and—if you are feeling tropical and adventurous—passion fruit, too. View Recipe 17 of 25 Key Lime Coconut Cake with Marshmallow Frosting Billowy Meringue Frosting tops a moist and buttery lime-flecked cake whose subtle coconut flavor comes from canned cream of coconut. View Recipe 18 of 25 Earl Grey and Raspberry Pound Cake No food coloring here—just the brilliant hue of pureed raspberries. Fresh berries also ripple through the cake, which has subtle floral and citrus notes from tea in the batter. The recipe comes from Nathaniel Reid Bakery in St. Louis. View Recipe 19 of 25 Maple-Walnut Banana Bars So simple: one pan, one ripe banana and less than one hour from start to finish. Easy Recipes for Bananas View Recipe 20 of 25 Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie Peanut butter lovers, rejoice. This pie is so good, and it has a twist: Melba toast replaces graham cracker crumbs for a crisp, salty foil to the decadent filling. Creamy Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes View Recipe 21 of 25 Puckery Lemon Bars These lemon bars are less sturdy and more lusciously creamy than their classic bake-sale cousins. You may want to eat them with a fork. Our Best Bar Cookies View Recipe 22 of 25 Raspberry Cream Tart Fresh berries work best in this elegant dessert (frozen berries get too watery). Keep fruit refrigerated and dry, and plan to use it within a couple of days of purchase. View Recipe 23 of 25 Lemon-Cream Cheese Pie This creamy lemon pie, a longtime reader-favorite recipe, is a signature dessert at Al's Oasis, a family restaurant along the east bank of the Missouri River in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Make Your Best Pie Ever View Recipe 24 of 25 Rhubarb-Almond Danish Braid Brie Passano Feeling ambitious? Make this "rough puff" pastry for a true from-scratch Danish pastry braid. Be sure to use fresh rhubarb instead of frozen for the filling. View Recipe 25 of 25 Vanilla Bean Crepe Cake When did being vanilla become an insult? This stack of golden crepes and creamy mascarpone is simple, elegant and deceptively delicious. Supermarket crepes are larger than homemade ones, so if you use purchased, you'll need to make an extra half batch of filling, or just make a cake with fewer layers. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit