Fruit Dessert

Juicy berries are marvelous nestled under a crispy top. This dessert is easy enough for a beginning baker to make and serve with pride.

The fragrant spices in this apple crisp are pure Christmas, and the cornmeal in the topping adds a rustic touch.

If you end up with a few extra shortcakes, they're great for breakfast.

Just as they do in sweet Chinese bubble tea, fat, chewy pearls of tapioca bring a certain levity to pears in a fragrant spiced-cider "broth." Satsuma segments add hits of sweetness to this chic, playful dessert.

If you've never cooked with quince before, here's a great intro. It tastes like a cross between an apple and a pear.

Studies show that sweeter-than-sugar honey has disease-fighting antioxidants. It also makes Bonaparte's unique dessert bee-licious!

This recipe was created by chef Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson of Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. Frico caldo are Italian cheese crisps. Chef Mackinnon Patterson's version includes potatoes and onions and makes for a slightly thicker crisp, similar to a potato pancake. Start making this recipe a day before you plan to serve it. The pickled shallots and cilantro vinaigrette are best if prepared 24 hours in advance.

Because they're firm and tart, Pippin or Jonathan apples would also be good here.

Look for a dark honey, such as forest honey, which is available at specialty foods stores and from kalustyans.com. WHAT TO DRINK: Try the 2004 Château Grillon, a delicious Sauternes that won't break the bank (France, $19 for 375 ml).

This rich dough takes a couple of hours to rise—just set it aside and forget about it.

In this free-form tart, the filling is mounded in the center of the pastry and the edges are simply folded up around it.

Part oatmeal, part pancake, this recipe is the best of both.

Pichet Ong adds pineapple to this Italian dessert for a Southeast Asian feel. The tiramisù needs to chill overnight.

These tartlets from Sam Mason are great with or without the Edamame Ice Cream. Any extra marmalade is delicious on toast.

Use a V-slicer (a simple, inexpensive version of a mandoline available at cookware stores) for the paper-thin pear slices.