5 Easy Memorial Day Desserts
Memorial Day and summer parties typically revolve around grilled meats (burgers and hotdogs, yum) and cold beers, but I think we can all agree that no party is complete without dessert!
I have a quick round-up of easy dessert recipes today – all of them are fool proof and simple to make, you can prepare them a day or two in advance, and I promise you that they’re all crowd-pleasers. Whip one (or all) of these up for the upcoming holiday weekend, or for any of the numerous summer get-togethers that I hope you’re all having with friends and family.
Bonus: two of these can easily be boozy desserts laced with your favorite liquor. Maybe tequila? There’s nothing quite as festive as tequila during a summer party!
Strawberries and Cream Granita – I’m unapologetically featuring this as the first recipe because it’s my favorite color. I made this lovely pink frozen treat 3 years ago and I’ve been making it every year since. I like the silkiness that the cream adds to each spoonful, and strawberries definitely scream summer to me. Option to boozify: substitute a quarter cup water with your favorite vodka or dessert wine.
Salted Caramel Crunch Brownies – brownies are the quintessential crowd-pleasing dessert. Think of the last BBQ, cook-out, potluck, party you attended – chances are there were brownies in the dessert table. These brownies will elbow out the other brownie competition and will immediately become everyone’s favorite. There’s a fudgy dark chocolate base (with chocolate chunks in it for added happiness), a layer of salted caramel, all topped with crunchy caramely brown rice clusters.
Tres Leches Ice Cream – you don’t need an ice cream maker to make this ice cream! This is a recipe I’m really proud of because everyone who tried it really loved it and can’t believe I made it without an ice cream maker. Tres leches is a soft, spongey cake is soaked in the three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cream. As the cake absorbs the milks, it turns dense and extremely moist, the texture resembling a cross between bread pudding and custard. The cake is then frosted with fresh whipped cream, and topped with fruit. This tres leches ice cream utilizes heavy cream, condensed milk, and coconut milk. I folded in mini Nilla wafer cookies, which in turn softened into cake-like pieces.
(Do all my food photos include some sort of pink? The answer is around 3 out of 5…)
Banoffee Pie with Salted Chocolate – Banoffee Pie is traditionally made with crushed biscuits, sticky toffee, bananas, and whipped cream. But this recipe is extra special, because I used dulce de leche and it has an added layer of salted chocolate ganache. It looks and tastes luxurious, but it’s a cinch to assemble. Make sure to serve this chilled.
Lemon Basil Granita – this is the freshest and lightest recipe ever to grace this blog. The three main ingredients are fresh lemon juice, basil, and honey. So FRESH and LIGHT, it’s like Mother Nature herself came up with the idea. This would be a big hit at any party and hey guess what, there’s also an option to boozify it: substitute a quarter cup water with some cucumber vodka, riesling, or TE-QUI-LA!
Have a great week ahead, friends! What are you making for Memorial Day weekend?
Hi! I’m Bianca Garcia. I love food, running, yoga, sangria, and my job. I'm an advertising professional, social media enthusiast, blogger, freelance writer, and obsessive list-maker. I think about dessert constantly. 
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