Brandy

Spoon these cherries over ice cream or pound cake, or serve them topped with whipped cream and biscotti.

Making one large shortcake is impressive and lot of fun — especially when chocolate is added to the basic combination.

Definitely not Ye Olde English Classic, but very delicious and very contemporary. Using store-bought sponge cake (ask for it at your supermarket bakery) or pound cakes simplifies assembly.

This quick dessert is like a crustless apple tart. It's a terrific way to use the fruit of the season and a perfect finish for the pork chops

This hearty breakfast dish is served at The Ahwahnee Hotel.

This beautiful torte can be prepared three days before serving.

(Southern German and Alsatian Italian Plum Torte) This torte is served traditionally at the high holidays in early fall, when small blue Italian plums are in season. In southern Germany and Alsace the pie was made from zwetsche, a local variety of these plums. My aunt Lisl always used to make a murbeteig crust (a short-crust butter cookie dought) for this tart, and sliced each Italian plum into four crescent shapes. She lined the tart with breadcrumbs and then apricot preserves, which protected the dough during baking, leading to a crispy crust. She went light on the cinnamon, a spice she felt was overused in this country. (I agree with her.) My aunt's results, simple to prepare, were simply delicious.

"Banoffi," the Royal Hotel's name for this luscious pie, was coined by combining the words banana and toffee.

Serve Cabernet Sauvignon with the steaks.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 1 hr (includes cooling)

Schwarzwälder Torte Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 4 hr (includes cooling meringues)

Make this a day ahead for the best flavor.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 5 hr

Dried figs and brandy add a new dimension to classic pecan pie.