Vanilla

The cookie-like dough is great for the novice pie maker, as any imperfections can easily be patched. Be sure to use ripe, juicy pears. Offer this with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

European-style butter pushes the already incredible crumbly richness of classic shortbread to a whole new level.

Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 6 1/4 hr (includes chilling)

I've often made this luscious spread with little yellow plums gathered from my friend Ilene's fruit trees. Red or purple plums work equally well. Because fruit butters are slowly cooked down to a thick paste, they require a good deal of stirring to prevent scorching. Active time: 2 hr Start to finish: 3 hr (plus 1 day for flavors to develop)

Vanilla sugar keeps indefinitely and is wonderful sprinkled over French toast or on berries. It can also be used in place of sugar and vanilla extract when baking. You can add more sugar to the container and the bean will continue to infuse it. Active time: 5 min Start to finish: 2 days

When buying fresh apricots, look for fruit that is plump, fragrant, and gives a little when squeezed. Poaching time depends on the ripeness of the fruit.

This delicious custard sauce, which accompanies the Rote Grütze, also goes well with summer fruit tarts.

Whimsical pinwheel-shaped biscuits swirled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and crystallized ginger top a layer of fresh peach filling.

This variation on the classic Irish apple cake has a top and bottom crust made from a biscuit-like dough. You can cut this cake into wedges or dish it out with a spoon like a cobbler.

These Christmas cookies are topped with white icing and silver dragées for added elegance. Look for the dragées in the cake decorating section of your supermarket.

Making bread pudding is a good way to use up day-old bread. Gary Rhodes creates this sensational version of the classic English dessert with cream, milk and egg yolks, so it is ultra-rich.

(Panna Cotta con Salsa di Fragole al Vin Santo) As tiramisù became the Italian restaurant dessert of the 1980s, so did panna cotta take over in the 1990s. The original recipe for "cooked cream" comes from Piedmont, but Tuscans have appropriated it. Their version of the eggless custard is often topped with honey and pine nuts, since the Tuscan city of Pisa is Europe's largest producer of pinoli. This recipe incorporates those ingredients into the custard, then tops it off with a delicious strawberry sauce laced with Vin Santo, the cherished dessert wine of the region. Begin making this one day ahead.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 10 hr (includes soaking raisins)

Breakfast in Italy is a sweet and simple affair that typically consists of a cup of cappuccino and a pastry. This cake is like tender shortbread.

(Vanilla Custard Sauce)Use the left-over eggs yolks from Rosewater Angel Food Cake to make this dessert sauce. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.