Fruit Dessert

There's no easier dessert than fresh fruit. But for something a little more spirited, we topped it with some store-bought lemon curd lightened with yogurt and flavored with crème de cassis. This simple dessert is a snap to prepare.

Here's proof that an elegant dessert does not have to take hours to make. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A trifle with a few twists: a white chocolate pudding and layers of dark chocolate cream and apricot puree.

Try these as appetizers, as a salad (on a bed of greens) or as a light dessert.

Festive and pretty, this do-ahead dessert is a boon for busy hosts.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional sitting time.

Arlene sometimes uses sliced apricots, peaches or whole strawberries instead of plums for an equally delicious topping.

A light-textured baked apricot meringue.

You may combine various types of melon, if you wish.

These apples are a perfect garnish for the spiced apple cake and caramelized apple crêpes. They're terrific as a topping for ice cream, too. Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

This recipe gives everyone a mini cobbler.

Cream cheese was added to the ricotta for this smooth, luscious dessert. But if you can find fresh ricotta, which is less grainy than some of the commercial types, use it and omit the cream cheese.

Croustades are toasted shapes or shells of bread or baked pastry crusts used as bases for serving various mixtures, either sweet or savory. Here they're made with slices of toasted pound cake and topped with wine-poached pears and ice cream. It's a dessert that's easy to make and a perfect conclusion to a county-style, French-inspired menu.

The French dessert that's known as clafouti is a pancake crossed with a fruit-filled custard. It's best served warm, right from the skillet. If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, any ovenproof variety is fine. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

The recipe for this delicious and speedy summer pie ws given to me by a food-writing colleague, Dede Ely-Singer. The filling requires no baking, is quick to prepare, and can be varied to suit whatever combination of berries and fruits is in season. The technique is simple: some of the fruit is first mashed and cooked into a thickened sauce. Then the remaining fresh fruit is stirred in and the entire mixture turned out into a completely prebaked pastry shell and chilled. The filling can also be served as a pudding without any pastry. Advance preparation: The pastry can be prebaked a day in advance. The filling should be made early in the day, and the pie filled and set to chill at least 3 hours before serving.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.