The easiest red, white and blue desserts with which to celebrate the July 4th weekend are these two, from prominent New York City restaurants.
 
 
RECIPE #1: RED, WHITE & BLUE ICE CREAM

The first recipe from Il Buco, is as easy as it gets:

Ingredients

 
It’s effortless: You don’t have to cut fruit (e.g. for a red, white and blue fruit salad) or bake anything.

If you want to make it fancier:

 
 
RECIPE #2: RED, WHITE & BLUE SORBET

This recipe from Per Se pays homage to stone stacking, an ancient ritual used as a marker of different types. In archaeology, they are called cairns.

This sorbet cairn requires only that you scoop and stack the sorbet.

Fine pastry chefs have moved away from round scoops to oval ones, thanks to gadgets like this oval scoop (note: It comes in several sizes).

Per Se used a garnish of edible gold foil and a blueberry. You can hold the foil.

You can also scatter fresh fruit—blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, quartered strawberries—at the base of the cairn. Banana slices add the “white” to red, white and blue.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. SCOOP the ovals in advance and freeze individually in plastic wrap, or on a cookie tray.

2. ASSEMBLE. We think the order should be the reverse of the photo: first strawberry, then lemon, then blueberry on the bottom. Garnish with a blueberry.
 

[1] Easy, peasy July 4th ice cream dessert (photo © Il Buco | NYC).

[2] Scoop and stack ovals of ice cream for this sorbet dessert (photo © Per Se | New York).

[3] Red and blue berries with banana stars (photo © Wisconsin Cheese).