Custard

Candida Sportiello writes: "As owner and chef of Il Giardino restaurant, on the tiny island of Ventotene off the coast of Naples, I've been cooking professionally for twenty-five years — but I've been cooking for pleasure for a good fifty years. As is the Italian way, most of my favorite recipes were handed down from my mother and grandmother, so they date from the early 1900s." This rich dessert is called a semifreddo ("half frozen") in Italian.

Mocha custards are the "coffee" part of this whimsical "coffee and doughnuts" dessert.

Refrigerate the flans overnight before serving.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. When blood oranges are out of season, you can use any type of seedless orange.

Begin making this ultra-creamy flan (think crème brûlée) one day before serving.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Flanes de Coco This classic Iberian dessert was introduced by the Spaniards. In the version below, coconut, which thrives in the Pacific coast state of Colima, flavors the flans. Begin making them one day ahead; they must chill overnight before serving.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. This foamy custard is a traditional Italian dessert. Delicious with no accompaniment at all, it's even better spooned over fresh fruit or served with biscotti. Be sure to have anything else you plan to serve with the zabaglione ready to go, as it really is best eaten just seconds off the stove.

Rich, refreshing and easy — the perfect finale to an elegant summer dinner.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 4 hr

Parisians love chocolate, and cooks in Paris might make this with Valrhona, one of the best French brands. Begin preparing the dessert a day ahead.

This refreshing dessert comes from Lincoln Carson, pastry chef at the Highlands Inn in Carmel Highlands, California. It has a lovely rich texture, even though it has no eggs.

Crunchy candy-coated cranberries make festive garnish for this inventive dessert. Begin preparing the custards a day before serving.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Pear Charlottes with Chamomile Crème Anglaise .

Crema Pasticciera I Campanians are wild for pastry cream. Thickened with flour, rich with eggs, flavored with vanilla, lemon, chocolate, or coffee, it fills cream puffs, sponge cakes, and ladyfingers in all the composed desserts called delizie (delights), and the grandest of all, Zuppa Inglese. It goes under fruits and fruit preserves in tarts, which are called either crostate or pizze. It forms a topknot in the hole of the famous fried Zeppole di Guiseppe, the bignè — or French crullers, you might call them — made in honor of St. Joseph on March 19. Pastry cream is also one of the bases for frozen desserts. It can be lightened with whipped cream, thinned with loquid cream. It also makes a fine sauce, the same as the French crè anglaise. This recipe requires total concentration and a quick eye and hand. The eggs must be heated just to the point that they do their maximum thickening and never so much that they scramble. The starch must be kept in constant motion, too; otherwise it will lump. I find that even with the best technique it is always prudent to be prepared with a strainer placed over a bowl. No matter how careful you are, there are frequently at least a few lumps that need to be smoothed out.