Stone Fruit

The addition of fresh fruit gives these irresistible sundaes seasonal appeal. The rich creamy sauce is a do-ahead.

It's important to use large lettuce leaves (about 6 inches) for this salad, so you may need to buy 2 heads of lettuce in order to get 6 good leaves. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min

Old-time taste in a hurry. Serve in deep bowls with ice cream or whipping cream.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

In this recipe, tortillas are a supermarket stand-in for mandarin pancakes. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 35 min

Rum and spices-classic Caribbean ingredients-also happen to be the classic ingredients in the traditional English steamed pudding. This lovely version of the Christmas dessert is from the Grand View Beach Hotel, Villa Point, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Begin preparing it at least one day before serving.

(COMPOTE DE CERISES NOIRES) When in season, fresh cherries can be used in place of the frozen ones.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

I line the buttered pans with buttered wax paper, then flour them, to make unmolding the cakes easy after baking.

Serve this home-style treat with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

A quick, colorful and low-cal dessert. What else could you ask for?

Instead of using a pastry bag to pipe the meringue for the baskets, just snip a corner off a resealable plastic bag. Begin preparing this one day ahead.