Classic Indian pudding — a warm hug in a bowl — is old New England comfort: milk slowly thickened with yellow cornmeal, sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, warmed through with ginger and cinnamon. It bakes low and slow, and it's worth every hour. There are...

Pear and apricot crisp is what I bake when the weather turns: fresh Bosc pears and chewy dried apricots under an oat-and-walnut topping that goes properly crunchy. Warm from the dish, with cream or nothing at all, it solves October. Craving a dessert that's both...

Red wine poached pears look dramatic and ask so little: firm pears simmered in dry red wine with honey, cloves, and a cinnamon stick until they turn garnet-colored, with plump raisins in the mix. Thirty-five minutes of mostly waiting, and a restaurant plate. A...

Poached pears with ginger custard are the dinner-party dessert that runs itself: pears simmer gently in honeyed water while you stir a silky stovetop custard sharpened with minced crystallized ginger. Spooned warm over the fruit, it looks like you hired help. There's...

Honey-brandy baked apples with walnuts fill the kitchen with the smell of a slow autumn evening: firm tart apples cored and baked in honey, brandy, and warm spices until the pan juices turn to caramel. Serve them warm with lightly sweetened whipped cream. There's a...

Maple-walnut baked apples are the coziest dessert I know: tart apples hollowed and stuffed with maple, walnuts, raisins, and warm spices, then baked until they slump into their own syrup. A spoonful of crème fraîche on top turns each one into a small event. There's...