Pudding

A classic Italian dessert receives a double dose of berries.

If rice pudding is getting a little too comfortable, try our version with fresh pineapple, mango, and papaya. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 30 min

Keep an eye on the caramel as it nears the end of cooking—it can go from deep amber to just plain burned very quickly.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 4 hr (includes cooling)

These rich custards are the perfect ending to this — or any other — spring meal.

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.

Marge Dawson of Ivoryton, Connecticut, writes: "My daughter and I went to Thali, an Indian restaurant in New Canaan, Connecticut, and had a superb meal. I have never been a fan of rice pudding, but their version was out of this world. Is there any chance you could get the recipe?"

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

Minus the ice cream, this delicate pudding makes a wonderfully indulgent breakfast.

When I eat Bread Pudding Soufflé I always think of the Commander's saying, "If it ain't broke, fix it anyway." Bread pudding was already near perfection, but we combined Creole bread pudding with the light texture of a meringue and ended up with the restaurant's signature dessert, the single most sought-after dish in our family's restaurant history. The whiskey sauce itself is divine but particularly so when generously poured over the piping hot soufflé. Take it from me, this is no light dessert. Make the bread pudding and the sauce in advance, the meringue just before assembling and baking.

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.

Though we used parfait glasses for this pudding to show off the layers, at the restaurant Stitt serves it in large coffee cups with saucers and spoons. The whipped cream topping looks like the foam on a cappuccino — hence its name.