Cake

Bake the cheesecake at least one day ahead so that it has enough time to chill.

Daryl Getman of New York City, NY, writes: "I'm a second-year theater student at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, so most days are more about running from class to rehearsal to a performance than they are about cooking. But since I moved out of the dorms last year, cooking has become my favorite distraction. And on the weekends, it's my idea of a break." Top the moist squares with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Inspired by Neapolitan ice cream, this pretty dessert layers cherry-studded chocolate ice cream with pistachio ice cream and raspberry sorbet. The press-in, no-bake crust is made with Italian amaretti cookies.

Begin preparing the cake one day ahead.

The bubbles in the stout act as a leavening agent, so only a small amount of baking soda is needed for the rich, moist cake to rise.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Icebox Desserts by Lauren Chattman. Strategically placed wafer cookies look like large polka dots when this cake is unmolded. Then, when you slice it, you see the stripes. Make sure the cake is fully frozen before slicing for the cleanest look.

These little scallop-shaped cakes are a classic teatime treat in France.

Like so many homemade French desserts, this pound cake, tenderized with yogurt instead of butter, is utterly simple and versatile: Enjoy a slice for breakfast with a steaming cup of coffee, or serve it after dinner with fruit coulis or whipped cream.

This lightly sweet brioche is the coffee cake of Alsace (where it is also known by its German name, kugelhopf). It can be baked in an eight- or nine-cup crown-shaped kouglof (or kugelhopf) mold, a fluted ring mold, or a tube or Bundt pan. While the cake is best on the same day it is baked, leftovers are delicious toasted.

A far is a custardy pudding cake, similar to a clafouti but with a dense, smooth, flan-like texture. This one, studded with brandy-soaked prunes and raisins, is the signature pastry of Brittany, served for breakfast as well as dessert.

TREND: Deconstructed desserts (breaking down a dish into its essential components, then serving the parts as a whole) WHO: Gale Gand, pastry chef at Tru in Chicago and host of Sweet Dreams on the Food Network WHAT: The elements of Black Forest Cake — chocolate cake and pudding, cherries, whipped cream, and kirsch — are reimagined as sensuous, separate bites and sips.

TREND: Roasted fruit WHO: Diane Rossen Worthington, author of The Taste of the Season: Inspired Recipes for Fall and Winter WHAT: Cooks have known for ages that roasting completely transforms meat and vegetables, taking them to new depths of flavor. Fruit is now getting the treatment, and this winter comfort dessert comes from a cookbook author who really knows about cold-weather cooking.

TREND: Exotically flavored chocolate WHO: Katrina Markoff, CEO of Vosges Haut-Chocolat in Chicago WHAT: Markoff, one of the first to infuse chocolate with unexpected ingredients, named this Asian-tinged creation after one of her most popular truffles. Its Japanese flavors — ginger, wasabi, and black sesame seeds — are the building blocks for an inspired cake.

In this version of the classic Parisian gâteau, layers of soft coconut meringue alternate with a dark chocolate and rum ganache filling. Do-aheads: ganache, 2 days; meringue, 1 day; marjolaine, 1 day.

Layers of chocolate mousse made with gianduja, the luscious Italian hazelnut-flavored milk chocolate, and chocolate genoise top a base of hazelnut crunch. Do-aheads: cake layer, 1 day; assembled cake, 2 days.

Ambrosia may sound exotic, but it's simply chilled fruit (typically oranges or bananas) tossed with coconut and sugar. In some homes, it is served as a salad as well as a dessert. Here, food editor Alexis Touchet put her own spin on this southern classic by bringing cake into the picture, and moving the oranges to the filling and pressing the coconut into the frosting.

Michele Evola of New York, New York, writes: "I thought you might enjoy this family recipe. My aunt Bess puts fresh persimmons in the freezer so she can make these bars anytime." When Hachiya persimmons are very ripe, they're so fragile that they nearly turn to juice. If you want to freeze them as Michelle Evola's aunt Bess does, we suggest first putting them on a baking sheet in the freezer until they harden. Then wrap them in plastic wrap while they're hard and freeze them in a sealed plastic bag.