Fruit Dessert

From chef Alex Seidel at Fruition Restaurant in Denver, a beautiful tarte Tatin with plums standing in for the apples. This can also be served with vanilla ice cream instead of the orange crème fraîche.

Guests are always tickled by their own individual desserts, and after a light summer meal, these tartlets are just the thing. A flaky crust cradles plump crescents of fruit accented with almonds and Amaretto.

Dessert dumplings play a cherished role in Hungary. The tender dough, similar to Italian potato gnocchi, forms a pillowy ball around lightly sweetened plums. The finishing touch? A buttery mixture of bread crumbs, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon sugar.

Mango, kiwi, and pineapple are enhanced with a little lime syrup for a tangy, and not incidentally yellow and green, fruit salad.

The charm of this simple dessert is obvious: It takes sweet summer fruits and cooks them down so that everything good about them becomes even better.

Offering a good dose of calcium, zinc, and vitamins A and C, this Middle Eastern-inspired combination makes a healthy handheld breakfast or snack. Topped with honey, nuts, and yogurt as thick as ice cream, it might even pass for dessert.

A Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. If you can't find any, substitute regular lemons. This pie's decadent cream filling is made from protein-rich tofu.

This recipe was created by chef Geraldine Ferraro of the Four Swallows Restaurant on Bainbridge Island in Washington. It's part of a special menu she created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Top with ice cream, lightly sweetened créme fraîche, or whipped cream.

Top with scoops of vanilla ice cream and a couple of shortbread cookies if you like.

For a fun presentation, serve the granita in hollowed-out lime halves. To prepare the limes, snip the membranes with scissors, then scrape clean with a grapefruit spoon.

Assemble the berries and yogurt up to a few hours ahead, then pour the caramel over shortly before serving.

Bourbon lends depth to the sauce and extra sweetness to the cream filling, but this dessert is fantastic even without it.

The best desserts are those that manage to be sweetly satisfying while also containing an element of surprise, and this unique granita certainly fits the bill. We first had a version of it at Manhattan's Wallsé, and were stunned by the interplay among the bright, verdant mix of apple and celery with the richness of olive oil and the heat of grated horseradish. (Here, we've substituted wasabi for the horseradish.) It's a truly sophisticated way to end a meal.

If you're searching for a showstopping dessert (that is secretly easy to make) to serve company, look no further. Each gorgeous — and delicious — tricolored slice is a canvas of decorative swirls: vibrant orange, deep purple, and creamy white.