Fruit Dessert

I often make a thick crème anglaise to serve with this compote, though it is delightful all on its own.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

"While my sister was visiting me, we had dinner at Asher Restaurant in nearby Roswell," writes Terry Taylor of Suwanee, Georgia. "She loved the meal — the rhubarb crisp with buttermilk ice cream in particular. I'd love to surprise her by making this dessert the next time she's in town."

"Inventing desserts is my passion," says Laura Gambrill of Washington, D.C.. "This is a twist on an all-time favorite, bananas Foster. The mango, crystallized ginger and pineapple complement the banana and rum nicely — and so does the toasted coconut that I sprinkle on top."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

To bake these puffs all at once, you will need 6 mini-muffin pans, each containing twelve 1 3/4- by 1-inch cups. However, you could also make them in batches using fewer pans.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This comforting side dish is a love letter to the sweet tooth in all of us: Unpeeled sweet potatoes and bananas are roasted together, then peeled, pureed, and topped with a crunchy pecan streusel.

The curd can be prepared up to four days ahead; the assembled tartlets, one day ahead.

"Moist and pretty in color when blackberry, currant, or some such jam was used, [jam cake] was a favorite with pioneer women, for it kept well," James Beard wrote in his American Cookery (Little Brown, 1972). The only thing more that might be said about jam cake is that it is delicious.

Resist the temptation to use soft-ripe pears in this recipe as they will disintegrate during cooking and produce too much liquid.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time. A fantastic ice-cream sauce.