Fruit Dessert

GOOD TO KNOW It will come as no surprise that gelatin desserts are a calorie-counter’s dream. What you may not know is that there are elegant ways of preparing—and presenting—the nostalgic desserts. Form the gelatins in pretty single serve glasses or in a loaf pan for unmolding and slicing.

GOOD TO KNOW It will come as no surprise that gelatin desserts are a calorie-counter’s dream. What you may not know is that there are elegant ways of preparing—and presenting—the nostalgic desserts. Form the gelatins in pretty single serve glasses or in a loaf pan for unmolding and slicing.

WHY IT’S LIGHT One crust makes this tart less fattening than a more traditional (read: double-crust) summer pie. It has a higher proportion of peak-season fruit, another bonus for the calorie conscious. Nectarines are featured, but plums, peaches, apricots, or any mixture of stone fruits would work beautifully here.

GOOD TO KNOW In this fruit-topped, vanilla-scented cake, vegetable oil stands in for butter, reducing the amount of saturated fat in each portion. Swapping out a third of the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour boosts the fiber content.

FLAVOR BOOSTER Naturally sweet, pears become even more so when baked until very tender. They are delicious on their own or topped with a dollop of rich mascarpone cheese and crumbled almond-flavored cookies for a slightly more lavish treat.

WHY IT’S LIGHT Fruit makes a naturally healthy dessert; here, lightly sweetened fresh pears and berries are embellished with only a thin layer of crunchy oatmeal topping. The topping can be made ahead and chilled until ready to use; refrigerate it in an airtight container up to five days.

The Linzer cookie, thought to have originated in the city of Linz, is based on the Linzertorte, one of the most famous and beloved confections in Austria. The cookies are like mini versions of the torte, which consists of a buttery dough, rich with ground almonds or hazelnuts, spread with jam—usually raspberry or apricot these days, but originally with black or red currant jam or jelly—and then topped with a lattice of more dough before baking. You don't see Linzertortes often on this side of the Atlantic because the Linzer cookie is so much easier to make and delivers the same wonderful interplay of flavors. With its snowy dusting of confectioners' sugar and glistening red raspberry jam filling, which peeks out from the center of the sandwich cookie, it definitely screams "holiday."

Cobblers are mostly fruit, with the sweet cobbler biscuits floating on top to soak up all the juices. They are a good thing to make when you have an abundance of fruit and a number of people to cook for. Make them all year round with whatever ripe fruits are in season, either singly or in combination. They are superb served warm for dessert but even better for breakfast the next morning.

If I’m going to make a fruit tart or pie, it is most often a galette—a thin, free-form open-face tart. The pastry is easy to make and roll out, and is crisp and light when baked. The dough is not sweet and can be used for savory tarts as well as dessert. This recipe makes enough dough for 2 tarts. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer for several months.

I love fruit at the end of a meal and am easily satisfied with whatever is ripe and in season. However, if I have guests and want to give them something more than fresh fruit, simply baking sweet peaches or nectarines transforms them into a warm and fragrant dessert. All kinds of fruits are lovely baked—pears, nectarines, apricots, pluots, apples—but peaches are particularly luscious and juicy. This recipe gilds the lily a bit with berries and wine. If those ingredients are not on hand, don’t let that stop you; the peaches are wonderful baked without them.

Jellies, also known as fruit paste or pâte de fruit, are beautiful bite-size confections with intense fruit flavor. Fruits such as apples, quince, and plums are slowly cooked with sugar to a concentrated purée, then cooled in a mold or pan until set and firm. The jellies can be cut into all sorts of shapes, rolled in sugar, and served as candies. Without a sugar coating, fruit paste is a delicious accompaniment to cheese.

Nectarines and apricots are also delicious baked this way.

This is one of the most delicious tarts there is. The apples caramelize on the bottom of the pan, the pastry bakes crisp and brown on top of the fruit, and the whole tart is flipped upside down, revealing the dark caramel-drenched apples.

This is an utterly simple dessert that is a refreshing finish to any meal. Be sure to use bright red ripe berries.

I usually poach more kumquats than I need for a particular dessert; they keep well in their poaching liquid in the refrigerator for 2 weeks or more. They are lovely combined with sliced fresh blood oranges or with other poached fruits, especially prunes (poach the kumquats, lift them out when they’re done, and poach the prunes in the same syrup, combining them when the prunes are done and the syrup has cooled a bit).

This is only one example of the many summer fruit compotes that turn combinations of fruit into delectable desserts. All the fruits of summer—plums, peaches, apricots, nectarines, cherries, figs—can be cut up and soaked together in their own juices with a little sugar and lemon juice. Summer fruit compotes are delicious by themselves; on pancakes or waffles; with almond cake or angel food cake or a plate of cookies; or with ice cream, whipped cream, or sherbet.

Crisps and cobblers are humble desserts, not too sweet, and full of flavor. A deep layer of fruit is baked under a crunchy topping or cream biscuits, much like a deep-dish pie with a top crust. Every season has fruit to offer: apples and pears in fall and winter, rhubarb and strawberries in the spring, and all the stone fruits and berries of summer. A crisp topping is a coarse mixture of flour, brown sugar, nuts, and spices, with butter worked into the flour mixture just until it’s crumbly. Crisp topping is as easy to make in large batches as it is in small batches, and it freezes very well for up to 2 months. It is a convenient staple to have in the freezer for a quick dessert for an unexpected occasion. Topped with biscuits, cobblers are less sweet than crisps and best made with juicy fruits. I make simple cream biscuits out of flour and butter worked together, leavened with a little baking powder, and moistened with heavy cream. The dough is rolled out on the thick side and cut into shapes. Once cut, the biscuits can be held in the refrigerator for an hour or two before baking. Crisps and cobblers work best when the fruit is piled high. For both desserts the fruit is cut into bite-size pieces (1/3-inch-thick slices or 1-inch cubes) and, like fruit pie fillings, tossed with a little flour and a little sugar. Use less sugar for crisp fillings because the crisp topping is so sweet. Tart rhubarb needs quite a bit of sugar, apples need less, and sweet fruits such as peaches need almost none at all. Taste the fruit while you are cutting it and again after it is sugared; you can always add more. The flour thickens the juices that would otherwise be too soupy. It doesn’t take much, a tablespoon or two at the most. A crisp or cobbler is served straight from the dish it has been baked in, so choose an attractive one. Ceramic dishes are best, as metal pans will react with the acid of the fruit. The dish needs to be about 3 inches deep to accommodate a generous layer of fruit. Place the dish on a baking sheet to catch any overflowing juices. Cook until the crisp is dark golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up on the sides; a cobbler’s biscuits should be cooked through and golden. If the crisp topping is browning before the fruit is done, place a piece of foil over the top to protect it. Lift off the foil for the last few minutes to recrisp the topping. Serve right away or put back in the oven to warm for a few minutes before serving. Cobblers and crisps are delicious on their own but are even better served with a little cold heavy cream or whipped cream.