Fruit Dessert

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Strawberries and whipped cream are sandwiched between orange-scented butter cookies in this pretty dessert.

A cardamom- and orange-scented syrup is spooned over warm pears and scoops of vanilla ice cream in this lovely dessert. Refrigerate leftover poaching syrup to serve over ice cream later in the week.

"One thing I cannot get out of my head" said Ben Moskovitz, owner of Star Bakery in Oak Park, Michigan. "Was the food better growing up in Czechoslovakia or were the people hungrier there? My mother made a honey cake for the holiday, and it was so delicious. Honey was too expensive for us, so my mother burned the sugar to make it brown. Here I use pure honey, but I still think my mother's cake was better and I know I am wrong. The taste of hers is still in my mouth." Mr. Moskovitz's European honey cake follows, with a few of my American additions. Other European Jewish bakers interviewed for this book also bake with white rye flour and cake flour when we would use all-purpose flour. I have included both choices.

I hated this salad when I was growing up: It was pink, had too many ingredients in it, and my very Southern family loved it — three good reasons to abstain. During Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, my mother would always go back for seconds, chiming, "You don't know what you're missing." But I knew, all right — an unappealing mishmash of canned fruit and mayonnaise. No thanks. However, as I've grown older my family's "Southern classics" don't embarrass me as much. I've actually eaten this salad many times as an adult, and though I'm not saying it's my favorite, sometimes I need seconds to be sure.

This recipe originally accompanied Lemon-Almond Buttermilk Loaf with Balsamic Strawberries .

To get the look we wanted for this tart, we used grapes in assorted colors and shapes and halved the larger ones. Taste grapes before making the pastry cream. Their flavor will determine how much sugar you use— if the grapes are tart, use 1/3 cup sugar; if sweet, use 1/4 cup.

Mascarpone gives a tangy contrast to the sweetness of pears that have been poached in vanilla-scented white wine.

Here's a nice summer dessert from the Fore Street restaurant.

Probably named for the Russian royal family, this dish gained popularity at San Francisco's Palace Hotel.

Couscous is a staple of the Moroccan table. This dessert version is similar to rice pudding. Cream of coconut adds extra flavor.

This cake keeps well and feeds a crowd. The "crumble" is simply a middle layer of pecans, brown sugar, butter and cocoa.