6 Fruit-Filled Summer Desserts to Make with Market Produce

Ladies and Gentlemen: start your ovens. Pastry Chef Lauren Bohl White from Local Provisions is in the kitchen with TABLE for this edition of Great Plates. Because baking is, pardon the expression, the apple of her eye, she channels the bounty of summer produce into galettes, tarts, cakes, clafoutis, and compotes. As always, we start with the freshest produce from family farms, and we hope you will, too! If you’re wondering how to get started, check out our online guide to 2025 farmers’ markets in the Pittsburgh area.

Pastry Perfection

Herbed Goat Cheese Tart with Summer Vegetables

An above shot of three rectangular serving platters holding Herbed Goat Cheese Tart with Summer Vegetables
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Puff pastry tarts are a blank canvas for creativity! Goat cheese and fresh herbs are such a great pairing for most summer vegetables that it’s easy to find inspiration from what’s in season at farm stands and farm markets. We went with always-abundant zucchini from Who Cooks for You Farm and some late season asparagus, but please feel free to try any of your favorite veggies. We were also very generous with sprinkles of microgreens from Lettuce Ladies and cheese from Goat Rodeo.

Heirloom Tomato and Cheddar Custard Tart

An Heirloom Tomato galette sits on a brown table with red and yellow tomatoes on top and a spatula nearby.

This is a tart that dreams are made of … if your dreams feature delicately roasted heirloom tomatoes atop a luscious savory custard. It’s worth the time and effort. Please go immediately to your favorite source of tomatoes … like multi-generation family business Trax Farms. And stock up on cheddar from Latrobe’s Pleasant Lane Farms.

Carrot Zucchini Cake

An above shot of a Zucchini and Carrot Olive Oil Cake. The cake is covered in white icing and cut into eight pieces. One slice is removed and sitting on a plate off to the top left.
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Zucchini bread is great, but I love the addition of the sweetness of carrots, the texture of the pecans and the warmth of the cinnamon and cardamom. The addition of citrus to the cake and the cream cheese icing adds to the complexity. It’s a great snack cake to have at a summer celebration. Zucchini loves to grow in our Western PA summers. Head to farmers’ markets in Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Squirrel Hill, Sewickley … or anywhere on TABLE’s 2025 market schedule.

Cherry Clafoutis

A white pie dish holds a Cherry Clafoutis with a bowl of powder sugar and a sifter sitting above it.

I think everyone has a dish that immediately takes them to a previous time and place. Cherry Clafoutis puts me in the mid 2010s at a NYC restaurant called Rebelle. My husband and I loved it and dined there frequently. After it closed, I figured out how to recreate the dish, experimenting with different alcohols and fruits. However, I recently learned from the food legend Dorie Greenspan that if you are using stone fruit or berries, you’ll want to call this dish a flognard. Clafoutis is only for cherries. Speaking of which … you can pick your own cherries at Norman’s Orchard in New Kensington.

Stone Fruit Galette

To the left side of the photo sits an Stone Fruit Galette, we see it from above, and it holds a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
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Galettes are an easy yet impressive dessert to put together for a summer gathering. They are rustic, imperfect and yet so delicious! Strolling through a farmers’ market can be just the inspiration you need for a galette because you’re likely to have your pick of peaches, plums, nectarines, berries … or even figs. You can’t make a wrong choice. A slice of peach galette made from local peaches from Simmon’s Farm or another local grower and a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a perfect end to a summer evening.

Vanilla Ice Cream and Fresh Raspberry Compote

An aerial shot of Raspberry Compote with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream in a glass bowl. Three bowls of berries sit nearby.

This combination is part of every end-of-summer/family birthday party memory from my childhood. My grandparents and parents had hand-cranked ice cream-makers, and the rule was: You don’t get ice cream unless you’ve taken a turn cranking. If you don’t have a hand-crank ice cream maker, don’t worry, the recipe will work in small batches in a countertop ice cream maker. The raspberry compote is a classic that I remember from the Rothschild Farm & Gourmet Foods Raspberry Festival in my hometown of Urbana, OH. Try classic red raspberries from Sand Hill Berries or luscious black raspberries from Swopes Berries and Bees.

Story by Lauren Bohl White, Local Provisions
Styling by Keith Recker
Photography by Dave Bryce

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