Frozen Dessert

Jazz up the vanilla ice cream in your freezer with this rich, delicious — and easy-to-make — sauce. The recipe uses a bit of melted ice cream rather than whipping cream, so there's one less ingredient to worry about.

Use a Microplane grater or the smallest holes on a box grater to remove the lemon peel in thin, fine pieces. Any delicate buttery cookies — such as pirouettes, small shortbreads, or tender madeleines — would be delicious with the granita.

It's famous, it's infamous, it's notorious. It has destroyed diets and led to love affairs. Marriages have been proposed over it, couples have been wed in it, princes have been made from it. People have traveled from all corners of the world for just one sip of our creamy, dreamy, icy blend of chocolatey goodness. It'll make you want to blow bubbles through your straw. It makes everyone a child again. For years, fans begged and plead and offered firstborn sons for the recipe, but we three princes guarded the formula with our lives. It was such a closely kept secret that not even the White House could gain access to it. Jackie Kennedy once requested the recipe so that it could be served at a gala evening at the While House. I offered to travel to Washington to make it myself, but when my security clearance didn't come through in time, I refused to hand over the secret formula — not even to the First Lady herself! When customers asked how it was made, we would respond that we had a Rube Goldberg machine churning it out in the back — a hodgepodge of arms, wheels, gears, handles, paddles, and even canaries in cages working in concert to concoct the magic elixir. We would never let on that it was as simple as a blender and some magnificent chocolate. And now, to thank our customers for fifty great years, we've finally decided to share the secret recipe with the world. For truly authentic Serendipity taste, throw a sprinkle of magic in the mix. For this and all the frozen drinks that follow, the recipe yields one gigantic Serendipity-sized serving, which is perfect for sharing. Enjoy.

We couldn't wait to get into our test kitchens to try Rosie’s baklava ice-cream cake. As inspired as the dessert was, it was also a big production, resulting in a giant cake with 2 layers of ice cream and 3 layers of baklava. With Rosie's permission, we downscaled the recipe and tweaked it a bit, for a dessert that’s still delicious but more manageable. When working with phyllo, be sure to have plenty of clear counter space and a chunk of uninterrupted time. Phyllo dries out in the blink of an eye, so it is imperative that you keep your stack of phyllo sheets well-covered and work only with 1 sheet at a time. Allow at least 20 minutes to chop the nuts by hand.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Pear-Cranberry Crisp with Cinnamon Ice Cream.

Regular oranges work just as well, but they won't impart the same fiery sunset color.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Individual Chocolate Raspberry Baked Alaskas . This recipe will yield more than you need for the baked Alaskas, but who would mind a little extra ice cream in the house?

Begin preparing this one day ahead.

Though perfectly delicious on its own, this ice cream also makes a great accompaniment to spiced apple cake or caramelized apple crêpes. Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 12 hr

With a texture somewhere between ice cream and sorbet, this dessert has a slightly tangy flavor all its own.

For a quick and easy version, just stir one cup of praline into a one-quart tub of vanilla ice cream that has been softened slightly.

Present these light sorbets in tall glasses, and garnish each dessert with large pieces of the pine nut brittle for a dramatic effect.

Some cooks may prefer the convenience of substituting dried egg whites for the fresh ones called for in the following recipe. (This will eliminate having to find a use for the yolks.) Dried egg whites are increasingly available in supermarkets or by mail order. Here, you will need 1/4 cup dried egg whites, reconstituted by stirring 3/4 cup lukewarm water into them as package instructions indicate.

A pretty, pale pink sorbet enhanced with a splash of Champagne.