Ice Cream

An elegant terrine with pretty layers of walnut praline and homemade white chocolate ice cream. Do-aheads: praline, 3 days; sauce, 1 day; entire terrine, 3 days.

When food editor Shelley Wiseman remarked on the basil ice cream she had at JoJo, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Manhattan bistro, other editors recalled tasting herb-flavored custards in Milan years ago.

Despite their name, pink peppercorns aren't really peppercorns, but rather dried berries from a rose plant. They add a hint of color and a spicy floral note to this delicious ice cream. Grind a few of the peppercorns over the top for a pretty garnish. This recipe is an accompaniment for Warm Chocolate Tarts .

This recipe is an accompaniment for Peanut Butter Beignets with Caramelized Bananas . Make this up to one week ahead.

This cross between a fizz and a float  — a new take on an old-fashioned treat is lovely warm-weather refreshment.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

It's really worth seeking out the cane syrup for this recipe — it makes for a much more complex-flavored ice cream. Look for cane syrup that is labeled "100 percent pure;" some brands are cut with corn syrup. Cane syrup is available at some southern supermarkets and by mail order for Steen's (800-725-1654). This recipe is an accompaniment for Peaches "Foster" with Cane Syrup Pecan Ice Cream. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 5 hr (includes freezing)

We used an empty 1/2-gallon cardboard milk carton as a mold for this cake to keep the checkerboard pattern even.

Try the compote on pound cake, too.

If you have an extra minute, garnish the pie with chocolate shavings and cookie halves.

GELATO DI PESCA This recipe was sensational when we made it with ripe, flavorful peaches. If your peaches aren't great, try something similar, like nectarines.

In this recipe we call for creamed honey, another name for the crystallized, or non-liquid, form of this sweetener.

"My husband and I recently went to Chez Mimi in nearby Santa Monica," writes Randi Fine of Sherman Oaks, California. "We shared a luscious dessert called caramel chomeur, a cake baked atop caramel sauce and served with vanilla ice cream. I've searched my cookbooks, but I can't find a recipe close to it." Chef Mimi Hebert tells us that this dessert from the Great Depression era was called chomeur (from the French word for "unemployed") because it was inexpensive to make.

In Thailand, mangoes often appear on the table for dessert — served both on their own and incorporated into a sweetened sticky rice. If you can't get your hands on really good mangoes, you'll find that canned mango purée delivers the best flavor for this ice cream. However, many canned brands taste like peaches, so we recommend Ratna brand, which uses Alphonso mangoes, an Indian cultivar renowned for its bright orange flesh and very intense flavor. Ka-Me brand is a runner-up — the recipe will work fine, but the color and flavor will not be as intense. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 17 3/4 hr (includes chilling and freezing)