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We like serving these chewy, moist almond cakes, which are based on the financier, a French pastry, in individual gratin dishes, but the batter can also be baked in a 9-inch glass pie plate for 30 to 35 minutes.

This lovely dessert combines the flavors of cherries jubilee in an easier rendition of the classic recipe.

Try the compote on pound cake, too.

This dessert is an Italian takeoff on a classic French dish, Poire Belle-Hélène-poached pear with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Here the pear is teamed with a hazelnut-orange_semifreddo_ (a sweet Italian frozen mousse) and a Frangelico chocolate sauce. For smaller appetites, cut the semifreddo into eight portions and the pears in half.

Mix some chilled club soda into the leftover wine marinade for a refreshing drink.

There's just a hint of chocolate in these.

This is the basic method for preparing a chicken sauté to which you can add flavoring variations. You may dredge the chicken with flour if you wish. This gives a browner color but unflavored chicken is more delicate.

White chocolate custard tops espresso custard in this luxurious make-ahead dessert. It's pretty garnished with fresh strawberries and coffee beans.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 50 min

The coconut tuiles (cookies) that go into this layered dessert (left) are delicate, so the recipe provides for quite a few extras to allow for breakage. Tuiles are also terrific with ice cream. The syrup gets an interesting (and delicious) kick from nontraditional dessert ingredients like black peppercorns and a jalapeño chili.

This hearty dish comes from Havesathe de Havixhorst in the Drenthe Province in De Wijk, the Netherlands.