Fruit Dessert

Rum and spices-classic Caribbean ingredients-also happen to be the classic ingredients in the traditional English steamed pudding. This lovely version of the Christmas dessert is from the Grand View Beach Hotel, Villa Point, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Begin preparing it at least one day before serving.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

All of the components for this sophisticated dessert can be made the day before, then assembled quickly at the last minute. Sabayon (also called zabaglione) is a custard sauce that is whisked over hot water until it is light and foamy.

Very nice for a fancy dinner party, these little tartlets have an almond crust, tangy lemon filling and strawberries on top.

These soft jellies, layered with tart passion-fruit and sweet blackberry purées, are a wonderful summer dessert. Unbelievably cool and delicious, they're well worth the extra time it takes to make them. Active time: 1 1/2hr Start to finish: 17hr (includes chilling)

Upside-down cakes made with fruit became popular in America only at the end of the nineteenth century, although they had a long history in Europe. The addition of pineapple, a New World food, most likely came about after 1903, the year a Hawaiian businessman named James Dole began marketing cans of the tropical fruit on the mainland. The modified dessert found particularly wide acceptance in the Midwest.

A quick almond crust gets filled with ice cream and topped with cardamom-scented whipped cream and berries.

This is a terrific fall dessert. Soft, syrupy pears and tart sour cherries are nestled under a nutty, spiced topping, which is baked until crunchy and golden brown. At the restaurant, the topping crumbs that fall from the crisps onto the baking tray are one of my favorite snacks, and my staff and I can't resist nibbling on them whenever the crisps come out of the oven. Be sure to bake the crisps until the juices bubble up thickly; otherwise, not enough of the moisture will evaporate and the fruit will be soggy.

I line the buttered pans with buttered wax paper, then flour them, to make unmolding the cakes easy after baking.

The trick to this gorgeous dessert is to use imported white chocolate and to melt it carefully, since white chocolate is extremely heat sensitive. Let the terrine mixture get only warm enough to melt the white chocolate and butter.

Serve this home-style treat with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.