27 Labor Day Desserts for a Sweet Finish

As much as I want to deny it, summer is coming to an end. In Southern California, that doesn't really mean putting away the grill, but even here folks like to get one last cookout in before fall hits. Saying goodbye to grilling weather also means saying goodbye to summer fruit, so Labor Day is the time to get in one last cherry pie, blackberry cobbler, or batch of strawberry ice cream. Or if you've spent too much time thinking about the savory courses to make a homemade pie, how about something easy like 5-ingredient strawberry shortcakes or an effortless banana pudding? Either way, keep reading for 27 Labor Day dessert recipes to celebrate the end of summer.

Pies, Cobblers, Tarts, and More

The Best Cherry Pie

Perfect cherry pie is all about the ratios. Making your filling with 5.5% tapioca starch thickens it into a light gel that holds together without turning gloppy, and a 4:1 ratio of fruit to sugar raises the gelatinization rate of the tapioca so that the filling and crust cook at the same speed.

The Best Blueberry Pie

The same ratios that we use for our cherry pie work for other fruits, too. This recipe is exactly the same as our cherry pie recipe, except that it uses blueberries instead. For the best flavor, we recommend using a mix of wild and cultivated blueberries. Another trick: tempered-glass pie plates are more conductive than ceramic ones, so they make for crispier crusts.

Fresh Fruit Tart

This beautiful fruit tart conveys a sense of occasion—and it does so deliciously. Chilling the custard for at least two hours before filling the tart crust with it guarantees it has a firm and spreadable texture, and chilling it again for 30 minutes after assembly ensures it slices into neat wedges.

Old-Fashioned Blackberry Cobbler

If you want the flavors of a traditional cooked pie without having to deal with a crust then cobblers—fruit filling covered with a drop-biscuit crust—are the way to go. This cobbler is filled with blackberries, raspberries, and a pinch of cinnamon. The raspberries are there mostly to help round out the flavor of sour blackberries, so you can use 100% blackberries if they're sweet enough.

Classic Biscuit-Topped Peach Cobbler

Here we fill our cobbler with peaches, which we mix with sugar, lemon juice, and just 3/4 teaspoon of cornstarch. It's also a good idea to add flavorings—bourbon, nutmeg, and almond extract are good choices, but feel free to get creative with it. Again, we top the filling with biscuit dough, but this time we also brush on a syrupy glaze to give the biscuits a crackly crust.

5-Ingredient British Banoffee Pie

This low-effort dessert with gooey dulce de leche, sliced bananas, and whipped cream is a British classic—and is one I bring to every dinner party. Topping the pie with unsweetened whipped cream helps to offset the sweetness of the dulce de leche and bananas.

Cake

Texas Sheet Cake

If you're having a cookout, you can't go wrong by serving a big Texas sheet cake for dessert. Perfect for feeding more than a few, this giant slab of chocolate cake gets topped with chocolate fudge while the cake is still warm, and then toasted pecans are sprinkled all over the top.

Blackberry Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

This cake gets its striking color from blackberry purée, which stands in for the dairy you'd usually see in a cake recipe. Making the cake with egg whites rather than whole eggs also helps—purple blackberries plus yellow egg yolks will make the cake a rather unappetizing green. A tangy cream cheese frosting pairs wonderfully with the slightly sour blackberries.

Double Strawberry Cake

Strawberries are a more difficult cake ingredient than blueberries, which have a high acidity that keeps the cake light. Strawberry purée just won't cut it—if you added enough to get the acidity you need, you'd have way too much liquid. Our solution is to add freeze-dried strawberries, which have concentrated flavor and acidity but no moisture. The result is a fluffy, vibrantly colored cake with an intense strawberry flavor.

Retro Hummingbird Cake

Studded with pineapple chunks, bananas, and coated in a tangy cream cheese frosting, this opulent dessert has been a staple of Southern tables since the 1970s. Not only do the bananas and crushed pineapple bring the dessert a sweet, tropical flavor, but it also lends moisture to the cake. Meanwhile, toasting the pecans brings out the nut’s delicate flavors, and incorporating the chopped nuts into the batter adds a pleasant crunch.

Easy No-Bake Cheesecake

Our no-bake cheesecake recipe is about as simple as it gets: cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt whipped together until thick. It would be traditional to spoon the filling into a graham cracker crust, but for something different, try using Biscoff instead. You can also play around with whipping up a fruit-flavored no-bake cheesecake.

Cookies and Bars

Sunny Lemon Bars

Individually portioned lemon bars are a natural choice for a party. Lots of lemon bar recipes call for whole eggs and cornstarch, a combination that makes for a stable but murky custard. We leave out the cornstarch, adding extra egg yolks instead to get the texture right. Make sure to use nonreactive cookware (pot, whisk, everything) so that you don't wind up with metallic-tasting bars.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Delightfully salty-sweet, creamy, and crunchy, strawberry pretzel salad is a staple at picnics, potlucks, and holiday celebrations. We like to pulse the pretzel twists together with sugar in the bowl of a food processor for a salty-sweet crust with a sandy texture. A no-bake cheesecake also makes for a creamier, tangier filling than traditional Cool Whip.

Nanaimo Bars

With a chocolatey coconut base, a creamy custard icing in the middle, and more chocolate on top, Nanaimo bars are an iconic Canadian treat. Make sure to chill the bars between steps to create three distinct layers.

Ice Cream

Cherry Ice Cream

I'm sure you've heard cooking meat bone-in gives it more flavor (it doesn't), but did you know that a similar concept can work wonders for some fruit? Our cherry ice cream starts with cherries that we roast whole (in the oven or on the grill)—the pits make the cherries extra flavorful. We then cook the cherries down to a jammy consistency and mix them into an eggless ice cream base.

The Best Strawberry Ice Cream

While our cherry ice cream uses a slow roast to maximize flavor, our strawberry ice cream isn't cooked at all. Making the base with raw strawberry puree and macerated strawberries preserves the fresh flavor of the fruit. You need the best strawberries you can find to cut through the dairy and sugar—store-bought fruit just won't cut it.

Blackberry Ice Cream

If you don't have the greatest strawberries available, but you do have access to some beautiful blackberries, this ice cream is similarly designed to let the fruit's flavor shine. A touch of cinnamon helps preserve that wonderful blackberry aroma, and a hit of lemon juice adds a bit of brightness to the mix.

Homemade Speculoos Ice Cream

Born out of an excess of speculoos leftover from homemade Biscoff testing, this mellow, comforting ice cream works with either homemade or store-bought cookies. Once you have the cookies, the rest of the ice cream is pretty simple—the only trick is replacing regular white sugar with caramelly toasted sugar.

Fior di Latte Gelato

This frozen Italian treat contains no eggs, no fruit, no chocolate—nothing but dairy. So it really does behoove you to get the best dairy you can—preferably dairy produced by grass-fed cows—as the quality really comes through in the final product. If a study in simplicity isn't what you're after for your Labor Day dessert, you could also try our straciatella recipe, or our raspberry ripple goat's milk gelato.

Classic Vanilla Ice Milk

If you're looking for a sweet frozen treat that isn't too heavy, yet is plenty refreshing, ice milk is the way to go. Its light vanilla flavor and silky mouthfeel are strongly reminiscent of Dairy Queen soft-serve.

Other Desserts

DIY Fudgsicles

Who doesn't like a popsicle on a hot day? Our version of Fudgsicles takes the old-school chocolate treat and makes it even fudgier with Dutch cocoa. We turn to gelatin to replicate that distinct Fudgsicle texture—the pops should be icy (but not grainy) and hold their shape as they melt.

Tamarind and Palm Sugar Popsicles With Chili Salt

These popsicles are sweet, sour, and savory, thanks to palm sugar, tamarind, and chili salt, respectively. Modeled on the flavor profile of Pelo Rico candy, they get an extra sour boost from the addition of malic acid. Perfect for a sweltering summer's day.

5-Ingredient Strawberry Shortcakes

Depending on how much effort you've put into the rest of your Labor Day bash, you might not have a lot of energy left for dessert. That's where these super simple strawberry shortcakes come in. The biscuits are made with nothing more than self-rising flour, sugar, and cream and come together in the time it takes the strawberries to macerate.

Classic Banana Pudding

The essential upgrade for the best vanilla pudding? Vanilla pastry cream. Using this instead of commonly used boxed pudding mix makes for a silkier, richer filling. We also like to let the custard to bubble for a full minute to deactivate amylase, a starch-dissolving enzyme in egg yolks, which helps prevent the custard from weeping as it sits.

Eton Mess

Eton mess is everything you want in a light summer dessert. Briefly macerating the strawberries with sugar draws out the fruit’s juices, resulting in more flavorful fruit layers. Lemon juice and zest also add a pop of acidity to offset the sweetness of the cream and meringue.

Ultimate Strawberry Popsicles

There’s no shortage of fruit flavor in this frozen treat thanks to the use of fresh strawberries, strawberry jam, and freeze-dried strawberry powder. While the latter ingredient is optional, it’s key to brightening and intensifying the strawberry flavor. Additionally, fresh strawberries are recommended, but frozen strawberries will still leave you with tasty pops.

Leche Flan (Filipino Baked Custard)

A Filipino twist on the famous baked custard, leche flan is a creamy, dense, and ultra-rich dessert your guests will devour. It contains a whopping 12 egg yolks, along with sugar, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and a bit of lemon zest for brightness. Serve on its own or atop some halo-halo.