Summer

This summer pudding yields 6 servings, allowing second helpings for a party of 4 or a breakfast treat for the next morning. In addition to an 8-inch square glass baking dish, you will also need another one, glass or metal, of the same size.

Blended in the processor, the no-bake cream cheese filling is ultra-smooth.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Pistachio Blancmanges . Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Marillenfleck This is one of the most popular of all coffee-house treats, and almost every baker has the recipe in his or her head. (The proportions are 200 grams each of flour, sugar and butter, but these don't translate as easily in the American volume method of measuring.) This version comes from my friend Gerda Hofer, who related it by heart. Don't be put off by the use of canned fruit, which is consistently flavorful and sometimes preferable to the bland fresh fruit we get too often these days; but you can use fresh fruit if you are sure it is at its peak of flavor. If using fresh apricots, sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons additional sugar before baking.

Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 5 1/2 hr (plus 1 week for flavors to develop)

This recipe is an accompaniment for Old-Fashioned Potato Salad.

Look for Gold or Strawberry papayas. Their sweet flavor complements this tangy crab salad beautifully.

Making risotto is often thought to be an ordeal of stirring, but it really only takes about 20 minutes. In actuality, it's an easy dish, especially when it's the main course.

An easy dish that uses some traditional Japanese ingredients, including miso. Made from fermented soybeans, miso paste comes in various shades, with the darker ones being stronger in flavor. This recipe calls for white miso (also called shiro-miso), which is sweeter and more delicate.

This salad was inspired by a classic Salade Niçoise with its fresh anchovies, potatoes and green beans, and one offered to me by Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, who comes to France every year to avail herself of, among other things, the fine green beans of summer.

We always had this coffeecake for birthday breakfasts and other special occasions. Even when we lived far away from Maine, the smell brought us back to Bar Harbor.

This cake is a southern tradition for festive occasions. It can be completely assembled and chilled one day before serving.