Rum

"When I lived in South Africa, rum and raisin chocolate bars were a special treat," says Beth Peterson of Phoenix, Arizona. "I created this brownie recipe based on that combination of flavors, and perfected it with the help of friends and colleagues who sampled the brownies at each stage of development. These have a grown-up taste with the right balance of sweetness and rum." Try these warm with vanilla ice cream.

(Parfaits Glacés D'annanas En Piña Colada)

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 35 min

The origin of this luscious dessert, which resembles an English trifle (the name translates as "English soup"), is most likely with the homesick Victorians who fled the cold English climate for the warmth of Italy. In this signature Neapolitan version, the sponge cake is soaked with rum and layered with chocolate-cinnamon and vanilla-orange custards. If you can't find sponge cake, two pound cakes can be used. For a decorative touch, pipe a whipped cream border around the edge of the dessert before serving.

At Òran Mór, the ice cream comes in profiteroles surrounded by the sauce, but this lovely duo tastes terrific without that added touch, too.

You might be tempted to bake 2 sheets of cookies at a time in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Don't give in to this urge — the cookies must go in the middle of the oven to cook through and brown evenly.

Every island in the Caribbean has its own version of rum punch, usually designed to highlight the virtues of the locally produced spirit. If we were cast away on a Caribbean island, we'd like to find this cooler waiting at that little palm-shaded bar on the beach. Be sure to set out beer (Red Stripe is a nice Jamaican lager), wine and soda, too.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Tropical flavors star in this cool indulgence.

White chocolate custard tops espresso custard in this luxurious make-ahead dessert. It's pretty garnished with fresh strawberries and coffee beans.

The coconut tuiles (cookies) that go into this layered dessert (left) are delicate, so the recipe provides for quite a few extras to allow for breakage. Tuiles are also terrific with ice cream. The syrup gets an interesting (and delicious) kick from nontraditional dessert ingredients like black peppercorns and a jalapeño chili.