Berry

A delicious low-calorie fat-free dessert.

This refreshing seasonal sorbet is a wonderful mid-meal palate cleanser.

Purchased Mexican wedding cookies or any buttery nut cookie would be good with this dessert.

Crumbled amaretti add great crunch and nice almond flavor to this layered dessert.

Strawberry sorbet dresses up this terrific, uncomplicated dessert.

When ripe, fresh apricots have a velvety-soft deep golden skin with a faint blush and the most delicate flavor. When picked before maturity, the flavor is less than exciting but baking surprisingly intensifies the flavor even of the pallid ones, bringing them more toward the piquancy of dried apricots. Since baked aprictos are so vivid, I always bake them entirely open-faced in a pie. Glazing them with strained apricot preserves adds extra flavor and makes them glisten.

Refreshing and absolutely delicious. Mix up this treat in the morning, and it will be frozen in time to help beat the heat by the early afternoon.

These are also nice for breakfast. Just top them with nonfat vanilla yogurt instead of the frozen yogurt suggested in the recipe.

An easy substitute for the mascarpone, a soft Italian cream cheese, is 12 ounces cream cheese blended with six tablespoons whipping cream and 1/4 cup sour cream.

In this show-stopping dessert, moist chocolate cake is layered with a luxurious combination of rich chocolate glaze and raspberry whipped cream.

A traditional French cake, the financier is usually made from ground almonds blended with butter and egg whites. Individual rectangular financiers are popular in France's pastry shop.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

One of our food editors has made wedding cakes for family and friends and, in fact, made her own, based on the following recipe. The techniques involved are straightforward, although the endeavor takes a bit of planning, the proper equipment, and sufficient freezer and/or refrigerator space. Once you have all the components ready to go, allow 3 to 4 hours for assembling the cake, depending on your level of experience.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

The bûche de Noël, or Christmas log, was created in the late nineteenth century by Parisian pastry chefs, who were inspired by the real logs that burned on hearths throughout the night on Christmas Eve. Our version can be decorated with Candied Cranberries or fresh currants.