Fruit Dessert

Washington pears and California raisins complement each other deliciously. This is perfect with vanilla ice cream.

Cooking rhubarb to the right consistency is trickier than you might think — it changes from barely tender to falling apart in a matter of seconds. Watch it carefully while it's poaching. In this recipe you’ll need to boil the rhubarb syrup to the "soft-ball stage." To determine this, just drop a small amount of syrup into a cup of cold water. If you can form it into a sticky lump that flattens when pressed, it has reached the right consistency. This technique is especially useful with small amounts of syrup, from which it can be difficult to obtain an accurate temperature reading with a thermometer.

This is a refreshing and fast adults-only dessert for any summer meal. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

This classically simple milliard is similar to a clafouti - both desserts are a cross between a cake and a custard and are about as thick as a thin cake layer.

Filled with raisins and brown sugar and baked in Marsala and cider, these apples make a warming ending to the meal. Accompany them with vanilla ice cream and some purchased almond biscotti.

Great with the blintzes or ice cream. This recipe originally accompanied Cheese Blintzes with Carmelized Apples.

Caramelized Fresh Fruit These crackly-coated fruits bring back childhood memories of candied apples. I've given the Roman recipe here; in Venice, where they're coated with a thicker layer of caramel, they are called golosezzi veneziani. Set aside about 1/2 hour for the caramelizing and finish the procedure no more than 1 1/2 hours before serving so that the fruit remains crisp.

What to drink: Fess Parker 2000 Late Harvest Muscat Canelli, Santa Barbara County, or another sweet dessert wine with orange and honey flavors.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 8 1/2 hr (includes chilling)

The nutty, slightly spicy flavor of the sweet red wine works well with the berries in this dish. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 45 min

Zabaglione is the Italian version of the foamy, custardy sauce known as sabayon in France. I found that freezing it for this dessert gave it a texture much like that of ice cream. For an extra-pretty presentation, garnish this with fresh raspberries, orange segments, mint leaves and additional sliced, toasted almonds.

Any kind of smooth fresh cheese may be used to make coeur à la crème. Flavor will vary with the type of cheese used and also with the proportion of cream added. French fromage frais, English curd cheese, and American farmer cheese are all suitable for this dessert which should be prepared two days before serving.