Pudding

Chai tea spices — ginger, cinnamon, cardamom — flavor this delicious pudding.

Port wine and balsamic vinegar deepen the fresh fruit flavors in the cherry sauce. Be sure to get started at least one day ahead; the panna cotta custards must chill for 24 hours before serving.

As quick as packaged pudding, but twice as rich and flavorful.

From the Rainforest Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Making bread pudding is a good way to use up day-old bread. Gary Rhodes creates this sensational version of the classic English dessert with cream, milk and egg yolks, so it is ultra-rich.

(Panna Cotta con Salsa di Fragole al Vin Santo) As tiramisù became the Italian restaurant dessert of the 1980s, so did panna cotta take over in the 1990s. The original recipe for "cooked cream" comes from Piedmont, but Tuscans have appropriated it. Their version of the eggless custard is often topped with honey and pine nuts, since the Tuscan city of Pisa is Europe's largest producer of pinoli. This recipe incorporates those ingredients into the custard, then tops it off with a delicious strawberry sauce laced with Vin Santo, the cherished dessert wine of the region. Begin making this one day ahead.

In the early days of California cooking, savory puddings were often served, a reflection of the fact that eggs and dairy have historically been mainstays of the state's agriculture. That was a legacy from the mission padres who, in addition to growing field crops such as corn and beans, usually kept cows and chickens to help feed their communities. In Northern California, Dungeness crab season begins around the first of November. The crab lends rich taste and nice texture to the first-course pudding.

This bread and butter pudding gets its Italian flavor from panettone, a Milanese egg bread studded with raisins and candied fruit. Long a Christmastime specialty, panettone is becoming increasingly available throughout the year not only in Italy but also in the United States. Note: Panettone can be found in some Italian markets and specialty foods shops.

The recipe for the coconut pudding is adapted from Mexican Light Cooking by Santa Fe-based chef Kathi Long.

The secret to a perfect brûlée crust is using both the turbinado sugar and a blowtorch.

There's just a hint of chocolate in these.