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Cool summer desserts

© Lee Ward

With so many delicious and beautiful fruits in season, it's almost a shame to make a dessert.

Almost.

Despite the fact that a big slice of cold watermelon or a dish of strawberries make unbeatable desserts, an actual dessert is still preferable at times.

The best summer desserts are cool to eat, keep use of the stove to a minimum and make use of in-season fruit.

The following recipes have at least one of those aspects going for them.

Lisa's Fruit Tart A former co-worker's wife made this often, and it was so good we all hard a difficult time controlling ourselves. You may choose different fruits in different combinations for the toppings, but these were the suggested ones.

1 refrigerated pie crust dough ½ cup butter at room temperature 1/3 cup packed almond paste 1/3 cup sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup all-purpose flour 2 kiwis 1 red plum 4 red seedless grapes 7 strawberries, halved lengthwise, with stems left on ½ cup fresh raspberries 2/3 cup apricot jam 2 tablespoons brandy or water 1 large blackberry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough onto floured surface and press together along seam. Turn into 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom, fitting it into pan corners without stretching.

Fold excess dough over itself toward inside of pan to form thick edge and crimp. Prick bottom of dough with a fork and freeze for 20 minutes.

Line dough with two layers of foil extending over the edges. Fill with dried beans or rice and bake 20 minutes. Remove weight and bake another 5 to 7 minutes. Cool on rack 20 minutes.

In bowl with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter, almond paste and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour.

Spread filling into pastry shell and bake 30-35 minutes. Cool completely on rack.

Clean fruit, peeling and slicing kiwi and plum and halving grapes and strawberries. Feel free to arrange the fruit any way you wish, using the blackberry as the center.

In small pot over medium heat, combine the jam and brandy and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Brush lightly over tart top.

Remove sides of tart pan and transfer tart to serving platter.

Brownie Trifle

1 pan of brownies (you can buy some or make them) 1 large package of chocolate pudding mix 1 large container Cool Whip 1 chocolate bar

Following the directions on the package, make the pudding from mix.

Chop up brownies into bite-size pieces.

In a trifle bowl or other large glass bowl, layer brownies, pudding and Cool Whip to make three layers, ending in a heavy layer of Cool Whip. Garnish with shaved chocolate.