Pudding

Why drink O.J. with your yogurt when you can mix it in?

Almost any fresh fruit (pears, apples, berries) can replace the figs.

If quinces are unavailable or you want a shortcut, purchase quince paste at a specialty shop and heat it slowly to create a syrup, then simply spoon it over the custards.

Creamy coconut tapioca pudding with glazed pineapple is one of the desserts I obsessed over when I lived in New York City and worked for François Payard. All of the cooks at Payard Patisserie spent our free time talking about the places we dreamed of going and the dishes we couldn't wait to try. One of the cooks told me about how Claudia Fleming, at the time the pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, had created a dreamy tapioca that could not be missed. He was right—on one of my last nights in NYC, I was finally able to try it, and thereafter every time I went to visit NYC, I made a point of going back to order it again. Sadly, it's no longer on the menu, but I've channeled it here in this version. It's light and refreshing and uses the natural sugars of mango, pineapple, and apple juice to complement the richness of the coconut milk.

Ginger adds heat and zing to this coconut rice pudding; the crunchy topping lends a welcome texture contrast.

Beets for dessert—we were skeptical too, but their sugar content and gorgeous color make for a stunning dish. See more riffs at right.

This textured pudding was inspired by ice cream and gets its concentrated dairy flavor from milk powder, which adds richness without fat.

Silky, with a texture somewhere between pudding and panna cotta—and no water bath required.

Roasting white chocolate was a popular technique a few years back in a lot of pastry kitchens. I don't use white chocolate a lot because it is so sweet, but roasting it first caramelizes the sugar and toasts the milk solids to give it a nutty flavor, like brown butter, that balances its high sugar content.

Ellsworth uses creamy bomba rice and orange-flower water to make an elevated rice pudding for her daughter—for breakfast: "It's a weekend treat."

The ultimate do-ahead, portable power breakfast; it's also great with fresh fruit.

To check if your meringue is stiff, lift the beaters out of the bowl and upend them: The peaks should stick straight up.

Instead of using the traditional slices of bread, I like to use croissants for this pudding as they create a light dish. Serve with jugs of Butterscotch Sauce and Crème Anglaise so that everyone can help themselves.

Buttermilk lightens the traditional all-cream panna cotta base—without sacrificing lusciousness.

Pots de crème are little baked custards with a fancy name. A pinch of salt in these custards heightens the caramel flavor. Cover the baking pan of custard cups with aluminum foil; it makes for the most luxuriously smooth pots de crème you'll ever have.

Malcolm Livingston II, the pastry chef at WD~50 in New York City, shared this recipe exclusively with Epicurious. What's the inspiration behind this unusual dessert? "Chef Wylie Dufresne said to me, 'We both love root beer, so let's make it come to life as a dessert,' " Livingston explains. The first challenge was finding the right root beer. Livingston and Dufresne tried making their own, and sampled 12 different sodas before finding Fitz's —that's their preferred brand, but feel free to use your favorite. Consistency and texture were the next obstacles. "I wanted to make a pudding that had the consistency of Jell-O pudding, but with more texture, so I crushed up barrel-shaped root beer candies," says Livingston. The candy was combined with milk, milk powder, cornstarch, root beer, and eggs to create a smooth and creamy pudding that Livingston likens to "a solidified root beer float." Use extra caution when grinding the root beer candy, which can be hard on anything but a commercial or high-powered blender.

Matcha, made by grinding up dried green tea leaves to a powdery consistency, has a distinct earthy, sweet flavor that carries through in this creamy panna cotta. And since you consume the leaf directly in this dessert, instead of brewing it, the antioxidant levels are even higher.

Adding cream thins lemon curd and makes it extra spoonable—delicious in more than just this dish.

More proof that salt makes any dessert taste better—we'd even top these puddings with crushed potato chips.