Desserts

The perfect rum baba is a small yeasted cake, rich with eggs and butter, baked until golden and then soaked until juicy. Lemon zest and a drop of almond extract run through the crumb, and the whole affair takes about six hours — nearly all of it rising, none of it...

This boozy, grown-up fruit salad splashes brandy and cinnamon over peaches and bananas and calls it dessert. A cloud of confectioners'-sugar whipped cream goes on top, finished with slivered almonds and shaved dark chocolate. Fifteen minutes of work, and it...

Elegant red wine poached peaches look dramatic and take forty-five minutes, start to finish. Ripe-but-firm peaches simmer in dry red wine with sugar and a cinnamon stick until they turn deep ruby. Spoon over the reduced syrup and you have a naturally vegan dessert...

Decadent baked apples with brown sugar crumble perfume the whole house while they bake. Firm apples soften under a buttery, cinnamon-nutmeg crumble, with brandy and orange liqueur warming the pan syrup underneath. Pour cold heavy cream over the top and it's...

Authentic gajar ka halwa, the Indian carrot pudding, is nothing more than carrots, whole milk, and time. Two-plus hours of simmering reduce the milk into a rich, cardamom-scented sweetness, finished with saffron, golden raisins, and butter. Serve it warm with a...

This no-bake Easter Paskha is pure celebration — sweet pressed cheese, butter, and cream, scented with vanilla and lemon rind and shaped into a mold. The draining does the work while you sleep, and the almonds on top make it festive. It's the centerpiece the...

Classic French cherry clafouti bakes sweet dark cherries into a custardy, pancake-like batter until puffed and golden. A splash of kirsch is traditional but optional, and a snowfall of confectioners' sugar at the end is not negotiable. Serve it warm, straight...

Crème caramel, the vegetarian flan at its silkiest, begins with a ring of bitter amber caramel and ends in a trembling custard of eggs, milk, cream, and real vanilla. There's nothing to hide behind, which is exactly the point. It needs a long chill, so make it a...

Cloud-like cherry amaretto soufflés rise tall on a base of amaretto-laced cream sauce and juicy dark cherries. The meringue — egg whites whipped with cream of tartar — does all the lifting. Get them to the table the minute they leave the oven; the settling is part of...

Spicy ginger pumpkin pie deepens the classic with brown sugar and molasses over an all-butter crust. The filling bakes up dense and custardy, and the whole pie improves as the spices meld. Make it the day before your holiday dinner and thank yourself later. Forget...

A classic French apple tart is all about restraint: an all-butter crust, thin fanned apples, and a sheen of apricot glaze. It's a weekend project with the dough's rest built in, and the payoff is a tart that belongs in a bakery window. Firm, tart apples do...

Golden apple and brandy clafoutis is what happens when custard and apple pie meet in one dish. Cinnamon-and-clove-spiced apples cook in butter first, then a pour of eggy batter puffs up around them. Serve it warm, straight from the pan — no crust, no fuss. Imagine the...