Discover a range of delicious and delectable color schemes with these 10 FREE palettes inspired by summery desserts.
Summer is arguably the best, and certainly most colorful, season for desserts. The store shelves are overflowing with seasonal fruit and herbs, from tropical pineapples and papayas to locally-grown mint and blueberries, all perfect ingredients for creating delectable bakes.
Read on to find 10 FREE color palettes inspired by summer desserts and puddings, from classic dishes such as key lime pie and lemon bars to fun, seasonal treats, including rockets pops, banoffee pie, and strawberry shortcake. Your next marketing campaign or design project is guaranteed to make mouths water!
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You’ll find the HEX code swatches that allow you to use your color scheme for online designs alongside each color palette. If you want to use these palettes for creating print designs, you can also easily convert them to CMYK swatches.
When you find a dessert-inspired color palette you love, simply right-click and save the image to your computer, or save to a mood board to come back to later.
1. Mint Choc Chip
This summery ice cream flavor combines refreshing mint with the luxurious indulgence of rich dark chocolate. Is there anything better to dip your spoon into on a sweltering hot day than mint chocolate chip ice cream?
This pastel-hued palette is reminiscent of the cool and collected mood of this grown-up ice cream flavor, teaming mint green and neon pastel aquamarine with delicate shell pink for a beachy feel.
2. Banoffee Pie
Originally a British dessert from the 1970s, the ingenious combination of banana and toffee in the iconic banoffee pie has secured its position in the dessert hall of fame. Insatiably moreish, this palette is inspired by the golden yellow hues of this retro dessert.
Rich caramel brown makes for an indulgent base note when teamed with banana yellow, pastel lemon, and cream. This graduating scheme feels calm and light, making it a great fit for low-key summer designs.
3. Key Lime Pie
This recipe is believed to originate from the island of Key West in Florida in the 1940s. Key lime pie is super simple, mixing egg yolks, lime juice, and condensed milk poured into a pastry casing. The pie can be topped with cream or meringue, or left as a simple filled tart that’s won over citrus fans worldwide.
This color palette is inspired by the refreshing zing of key lime pie, contrasting pastel lime and neon lime green with deep Kentucky blue for a contemporary edge. Lighten the scheme with pale meringue white.
4. Lemon Bar
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Lemon bars, also known as lemon squares, are the ultimate citrus treat to enjoy in the high summer months. A shortbread base topped with lip-smacking lemon curd, this small and simple bake sure packs a punch.
Lemon bars are simple and elegant, so it seems fitting that a color palette inspired by this summer dessert would be likewise. Putty gray and dove gray provide the minimalist backdrop to more animated hues of pastel yellow and golden yellow.
5. Blueberry Cheesecake
Did you know that cheesecake is one of the world’s oldest desserts? Reportedly fed to Olympic athletes in Ancient Greece, today cheesecake comes in an innumerable range of flavors and variations. One of the most eye-popping is surely blueberry cheesecake, which is tinted a heady shade of violet by the inclusion of these tasty berries.
This summery color palette is a study in cool, purple-based tones, with deep violet, violet blue, heather purple, and pale mauve creating a graduating scheme that mimics the appearance of a fruit-topped cheesecake.
6. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
An American recipe that dates back to the 1920s, pineapple upside-down cake is a tropical take on the upside-down baking tradition, such as the French recipe for tarte tatin. Simple to make, cake batter is poured over pineapples, brown sugar, and butter at the bottom of a skillet or circular tart tin. The result is deliciously caramelized pineapple, decorated with glazed cherries for a cheerful pop of color!
Revisit this nostalgic dessert with warm, tropical-inspired colors, ranging from deep maroon and orange red to golden hues of amber and jasmine yellow.
7. Blood Orange Sheet Cake
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Sheet cakes, or slab cakes, are simple one-tray bakes that can be packed with flavor and color. For summer, blood oranges bring warmth and drama to this traditional home recipe. Slice up the cake and drizzle with bourbon brown butter sauce for the cake equivalent of an Old Fashioned cocktail.
This palette is inspired by the dramatic tones of blood oranges and late summer sunsets, with moody deep teal, red orange, and fresh bright orange.
8. Rocket Pop
A popular treat for Fourth of July celebrations or indeed all summer long, rocket pops come in a wide range of juicy colors and flavors. The ultimate refreshing dessert for kids and adults alike, you can make your own zesty and healthy rocket pops with simple fruit juice.
Transport yourself to a summer’s day in the backyard with this citrus-soaked color palette, featuring raspberry red, jaffa orange, lemon yellow, and lime green.
9. Strawberry Shortcake
Originating as a classic summertime dessert in the UK, strawberry shortcake is the very essence of mid-summer. A crumbly scone-like base is topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, with perhaps a few sprigs of fresh mint as a garnish.
This summer color palette pays tribute to this iconic berry-based dessert, with a suitably strawberry-hued scheme of crimson, red, powder pink, and celery green.
10. Cherry Clafoutis
If you’re lucky enough to visit Paris in the summertime, be sure to order clafoutis at that gingham-clad bistro on the corner. This traditional French dessert is a simple batter-baked dish brimming with seasonal fruits or berries, usually cherries or sometimes plums, apples, or blackberries. Dusted with a generous coating of icing sugar, this is the ultimate picnic pudding for lazy afternoons reading poetry books by the Seine.
This Gallic color palette will transport you to European summer parks in an instant, with the juiciest cherry red, clearest sky blue, and the palest dusk gray.
Explore even more creative inspiration.
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