Fruit Dessert

The recipe for the coconut pudding is adapted from Mexican Light Cooking by Santa Fe-based chef Kathi Long.

The secret to a perfect brûlée crust is using both the turbinado sugar and a blowtorch.

Hazelnuts are teamed with strawberries and rhubarb in this rustic tart. Vanilla ice cream is a must for serving.

Here's a delicious example of an Eastern spice used to complement a Western dish.

Fresh fruit marinated in Scotch and sugar is a lovely topper for the purchased cake.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 2 3/4 hr

The frozen berry sabayon is smooth and creamy, like ice cream.

Ukrainian Dessert Dumplings These stuffed dessert dumplings with a chewy noodle-dough wrapping are a Ukrainian specialty. The fruit fillings vary widely—ours are stuffed with dried apricots and walnuts, then sprinkled with a cinnamon-crumb topping.

Try the compote on pound cake, too.

This dessert is an Italian takeoff on a classic French dish, Poire Belle-Hélène-poached pear with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Here the pear is teamed with a hazelnut-orange_semifreddo_ (a sweet Italian frozen mousse) and a Frangelico chocolate sauce. For smaller appetites, cut the semifreddo into eight portions and the pears in half.

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.

One of Sicily's finest crops is the blood orange with its spicy-sweet flavor. But any variety of orange can be used in this Italian dessert.

Diane Ives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, writes: "As an epidemiologist who works with older people, I make diet and exercise an important part of my life. I try to eat as healthfully as I can during the workweek, and I stay away from processed foods — I'd rather have something simple and fresh anyway. But on the weekends, when my husband and I entertain, I love to splurge and make desserts. Since they are the first thing people remember about a great dinner, they are definitely worth the effort. The dried-fruit strudel here is a family recipe I learned from my grandfather, but I've simplified it so it can be made quickly with purchased pie crust."