Fig

Seasonal fruits star in a lovely rustic dessert.

This dessert hits both sweet and savory notes. Aged balsamic vinegar has a syruplike consistency, so a little drizzle goes a long way. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

(Gâteau de Semoule d’Isabelle) A favorite on the Dugord farm in Normandy, this cake (which is really more of a pudding) wins with everyone. According to Isabelle Dugord, who convinced her grandmother to share the recipe, her family ate this all the time when she was growing up, and it's still her preferred sweet. Isabelle works part-time at a day-care center and always has the children make this at least once while they’re with her. "It's easy to make, healthy, and they all, down to the last child, just love it," she said. It can be served hot, lukewarm, or chilled, and is best the day it is made. Raisins are traditional, though dates or figs are luscious, too.

Greece On many Greek islands, figs are usually poached in a locally produced dessert wine. The combination of red wine, citrus, and spices used here yields equally sweet results. The honey-yogurt cream is similar to an Italian panna cotta.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

Rosemary Leicht of Bethel, Ohio, writes: "I've been a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off three times, so I'm something of an expert at cooking with prepared doughs and bread mixes. Even though these items are simple to use, many people don't venture beyond the package directions. For each contest, I experimented with dozens of recipes, and some of my favorites have been breakfast dishes and desserts. Nowadays I don't enter as many competitions as I used to, but my family still looks forward to my latest creations." Serve this clever, sweet, and peppery bread alongside a bowl of soup for lunch or supper.

A weeknight-friendly chicken dinner with two kinds of vinegar, dried figs, and a rich sauce. It’s restaurant-quality food in just 30 minutes.

This sturdy almond-polenta cake is a gentle landing spot for fresh figs, and also happens to be gluten-free. Swap figs for plums, raspberries, or blueberries.

A sleeper hit from Bon Appetit’s 1974 Thanksgiving menu, this mincemeat pie recipe is deeply fruity and loaded with warm spices.

This charred broccoli salad with swooshes of rich broccoli-tahini sauce is for you, broccoli stans!

Try eating just one of these picarones, doughnut-like Peruvian confections that are drenched in a fig-flavored syrup.

Did somebody say fried cheese? Halloumi drizzled with honey and aromatic thyme makes for an ideal sweet-salty-crunchy appetizer.

This salad is a riff on melon and prosciutto. We swapped the melon for jammy figs and sweet tomatoes.

Perfect as either a side salad or a cocktail hour snack platter, you’re going to want to keep serving this mix of complementary sweet and salty and crunchy and soft bites all summer long.

Make this fail-safe combination of sweet-juicy fruit, crunchy-salty nuts, and chewy-fatty cheese your all-season salad template.

Figs bathed in butter and sugar bring a sweet, tawny balance to tangy cranberries.

Yesss! And you can even use store-bought jam if you want.

It's not about the number of steps or ingredients in a dish. If you shop smart, buying peak-season produce and quality protein, you don't have to do much at all (like with this easy salad recipe).

If you don’t want to go all out with a big variety of dried fruits and nuts (they can get expensive), you can limit yourself to two of each. Just be sure to include the salted roasted chickpeas; they’re addictive and provide a little hit of protein in this mix as well.