Fruit Dessert

Oregon's Willamette Valley produces great wines — as well as prunes, hazelnuts, and apples, which combine in this dessert.

This tart was inspired by a plum tart often cooked by the mother of Lisa's college roommate. Due to Lisa's reckless dissemination of that recipe (which caused an overpopulation of plum tarts up and down the eastern seaboard), her recipe-exchange privileges with said mother have been revoked.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Chill this overnight to develop the blueberry flavor and give the filling time to set.

These clafoutis-like puddings are best served warm. This dessert can be made using a 9-inch pie plate instead of the gratin dishes.

Long ago on our honeymoon, we stayed at the Connaught Hotel in London, a bastion of comfortable English tradition. They served what I considered then, and still do, the finest of fruit crumbles. It was served very hot and had a thick golden crumb topping that was baked on top of perfectly cooked and sweetened fruit. Although the crumb topping was crisp on top, it remained pleasantly soft in the middle.

This compote makes a lovely (and low-fat) dessert on its own, but the addition of ice cream and won ton strips makes it something special.

This dessert was inspired by the time-honored tradition of serving gingerbread with lemon sauce — the tang of lemon cuts the richness of molasses.

When he was the chef at the Carlton Hotel in London, Escoffier created Strawberries Americaine Style — strawberries in orange liqueur, blended into whipped cream and softened ice cream. Little did he know that it would one day be the star dessert of every posh dining spot in California. "Prince" Mike Romanoff "borrowed" the recipe and gave it a new moniker. Soon it was the hottest item on the West Coast. The L.A. Biltmore called it "Strawberries Biltmore." The Palace Hotel in San Francisco served it with anisette and maraschino.

This low-fat recipe won a contest that included mostly high-fat desserts.

This recipe works well with other fresh fruits such as nectarines, plums, figs, and bananas.

Fresh rhubarb is at its peak in the spring, and this dessert makes the most of it. Use the bright red portion of the rhubarb stalks for the prettiest result. The pastry for these napoleons has a crisp caramel glaze; be sure to butter the baking sheets very well to prevent sticking.

These layered desserts are a pure flight of fancy. Inspired by the Italian dish lasagna, they use a traditional Peruvian fruit and cheese combo and add the very French technique of brûléeing sugar to create a brittle caramel. Villaran tops them with a caramel crown for a dramatic presentation, but they are just as delicious with nothing more than a drizzle of strawberry sauce.

This recipe was created to accompany <epirecipelink id="2472">Lemon Macaroon Ice Cream</epirecipelink>. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This is a poetic version of the traditional Chinese almond milk gelatin dessert. Whipping the milk gives the top layer of this dessert the appearance of snow. Fat-free (skim) milk will create the most foam.

Summer's luscious cherries topped with oats, almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon.