One thing I love about summer in Ireland is the plethora of fresh fruit available to us. Strawberries, cherries, rhubarb - whether Irish-grown or imported, the fruit is far fresher and sweeter than I can ever remember fruit tasting in Canada. I like to make the most of summertime fruit by eating it fresh on my morning yoghurt or just as a snack, but there are also a few things I love baking at this time of year. Cobblers and crumbles are family favourites, but nothing beats a zingy tart or a baked cheesecake, in my opinion. Here are a few recipes featuring some of the fruit available at the moment.

French Pear Cake

French pear cake

I found these beautiful Comice pears at the farmer's market the other day. They are sweet and juicy, and usually paired with gooey cheese. But they're also great for baking, unlike other firmer varieties.

This kind of cake is autumnal and usually made with apples, but I think it works well with these pears, too. The batter is heavy on eggs and butter, so it bakes into a dense, almost custard-like texture with the fruit blending in. Served with a salted caramel sauce, this cake is an all-round winner.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

For the cake:

190g butter, melted and cool slightly

3 large eggs

250g granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

200g plain flour

3 pears or apples, peeled (optional) and thinly sliced

For the salted caramel sauce:

200g caster sugar

Juice 1/2 lemon

50ml water

200g cream

30g butter

15g flaky sea salt

Directions:

1 Make the cake: line a springform or square baking tray with parchment and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2 Slice your pears (peeling is optional; I left mine on because the skin was soft but if it's a firm pear I would peel) and keep them in a dish with lemon water to keep from going brown.

3 In a bowl, combine the melted butter and sugar. Whisk until well-combined, then add the eggs and whisk again. Add the vanilla and salt. Whisk.

4 Add the flour and baking powder and mix until the batter comes together.

5 Add a third of batter on the base of the lined tin. Layer a third of the slice pears, then repeat until all the batter and pears are used, reserving a few pear slices for the top of the cake.

6 Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean (the fruit can make this difficult so make sure it's really baked by inserting the skewer in a few different areas).

7 Cool the cake completely.

8 Make the caramel sauce: in a small saucepan, add the sugar, water and lemon juice and heat over medium high, until the sugar dissolves and starts to boil rapidly. Turn down the heat slightly and, swirling the saucepan every so often, continue boiling the sugar until it turns a deep brown.

9 Remove from heat, add the cream and butter and return to the heat once more. Bring to a boil and cook for about five minutes, until the caramel has darkened and thickened. Remove from heat, stir in the flaky sea salt and let cool.

10 Serve the cake drizzled with caramel sauce and dolloped with cream.

Lemon meringue tart

This tart is sweet, zingy and full of complementing textures. It's a nice departure from your traditional tarts and pavlovas, giving you a bit of everything.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the lemon curd:

Zest of one lemon

Juice of three lemons

125g sugar

4 large egg yolks

Pinch of sea salt

80g butter

For the pastry:

250g plain flour

2 Tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp salt

200g cold, cubed butter

1 large egg

2 Tbsp ice cold water, if needed

For the meringue:

4 large egg whites

3 Tbsp icing sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

1 Make the lemon curd: place a glass or steel bowl over a pot of simmering water. Add the lemon and lemon juice, sugar, butter, salt and egg yolks. Whisk constantly until the curd thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove the bowl from the heat and place cling film directly over the top of the curd. Chill for several hours (it will thicken as it cools).

2 Make the pastry: in a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cubed butter. Rub the mixture together with your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and mix. If it seems dry, add a bit of water - you don't want the mixture to be too wet but you need to be able to bring it together into a ball. Divide the dough into two and wrap in cling film. Chill for 30 minutes.

3 Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roll out one half of the pastry to 1/4in thickness and fit it into a tart tin. Place some parchment over the pastry dough and fill the tin with baking beans or pastry weights. Blind bake the pastry for 20-25 minutes, until the edges start to brown. Cool completely.

4 Remove the baking beans and parchment from the tart tin. Add the lemon curd to the blind baked pastry.

5 Make the meringue: whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Then, add the icing sugar bit by bit until it's all used. Continue to whisk until the meringue is thick and glossy. Top the lemon curd with the meringue, spreading evenly over the top. Turn down the oven to 100°C and bake the lemon meringue tart for another hour or so, until the meringue has set.

6 If you wish, you can grill the top of the tart to brown the meringue. Cool completely before serving.

Black Forest cheesecake

Cheesecake isn't my favourite dessert, but when it's baked and topped with a beautiful, fresh fruit compote, nothing really compares - it's decadent, indulgent, creamy, tangy and sweet all at once. I love the flavours of Black Forest cake and it's great to see Irish cherries in season right now. Baked cheesecake may seem intimidating, but it's one of the easiest desserts you can make - the time needed is really for chilling and setting.

Serve 8-10

Ingredients:

2 packs chocolate sandwich biscuits, crushed

3 Tbsp melted butter

400g cream cheese

200g creme fraiche or natural Greek yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of sea salt

3 large eggs

250g caster sugar

For the compote:

500g fresh, pitted cherries

100ml water

1 tsp vanilla

125g sugar

2 Tbsp cornflour

2 Tbsp water

Directions:

1 Make the crust: preheat the oven to 180°C. Add the melted butter to the crushed chocolate sandwich cookies; mix thoroughly. Press the mixture into a springform tin, going up the sides a bit. Bake the crust for about 5 minutes to help it firm and crisp.

2 Make the cheesecake: in a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, creme fraiche, eggs, vanilla and pinch of salt. Make sure you whisk out any lumps. Pour this mixture over the baked base.

3 Take some kitchen foil and wrap it on the bottom of the springform tin and up the sides. Place the wrapped springform tin into a roasting tray and fill halfway with boiled water. Place the roasting tray in the oven.

4 Turn down the temperature to 160°C. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 45-50 minutes, or until the cheesecake has mostly set. There should still be a very slight jiggle in the middle of the cheesecake when it's done.

5 Allow the cheesecake to cool, then wrap in clingfilm and put it in the fridge overnight to set.

6 Make the cherry compote: combine the pitted cherries, water, vanilla and sugar and place in a saucepan on medium high heat. When the mixture starts to simmer, let it cook for 5-10 minutes, to soften the cherries. In the meantime, mix the cornflour and remaining water together to make a slurry. Add this to the simmering compote. Let the mixture come back up to a boil. The cornflour slurry will turn the compote glossy and thick. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

7 Add the compote to the cheesecake, spreading it evenly over the top. Chill another few hours for it to set before slicing.

8 Serve the same day or the next day. It will keep in the fridge for about three days.