Torte

At Valentino, pastry chef Michelle Robie cuts the cake into individual heart shapes and sometimes serves them with a blood orange sauce.

Capri, Italy This decadent flourless chocolate and almond cake originated on the island of Capri, where it's called torta Caprese.

Loosely translated, tiramisù means "pick me up," and it has been picked up on practically every menu in America. Since the early eighties, it has been one of the most famous Italian-American desserts, and like spaghetti and meatballs, it is far more prevalent here than in Italy. Purchased angel food cake makes this especially easy.

The torte and compote are each great on their own, if you have time to make only one of them. A kosher-for-Passover sorbet would be nice with this dessert.

This jam-filled pastry with a cookie-like dough takes its name from the town of Linz. The recipe uses cherry preserves for the filling. It makes enough dough for the torte and extra cookies. To make cookies, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out decorative shapes and bake at 350°F on a parchment-lined sheet until golden, about 10 minutes.

"I have prepared the plum torte from Marian Burros’s The Best of De Gustibus many times, and I’ve also tried variations using different kinds of fruit," says Peter Wayne Gagnon of Pineville, North Carolina. "My experiments helped me arrive at my own version of this dessert." Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

The crunchy honey-almond praline pieces in the ice cream are an easy, homemade version of turrón, a popular Spanish candy.

Check the supermarket produce section for fresh peeled and sliced mangoes. You'll need about four cups of diced mangoes.

Because the torte is so rich, a small piece really satisfies. Start preparing this the day before you plan to serve it.

Here's a three-layer cake that makes a sensational finale to any meal.

(Southern German and Alsatian Italian Plum Torte) This torte is served traditionally at the high holidays in early fall, when small blue Italian plums are in season. In southern Germany and Alsace the pie was made from zwetsche, a local variety of these plums. My aunt Lisl always used to make a murbeteig crust (a short-crust butter cookie dought) for this tart, and sliced each Italian plum into four crescent shapes. She lined the tart with breadcrumbs and then apricot preserves, which protected the dough during baking, leading to a crispy crust. She went light on the cinnamon, a spice she felt was overused in this country. (I agree with her.) My aunt's results, simple to prepare, were simply delicious.

The Italian combination of chocolate and hazelnuts, called gianduia, is used here in a sumptuous, dense cake. The torte's lustrous chocolate glaze makes this a perfect dessert for holiday entertaining.

Enjoy this dessert at room temperature if you like a creamy texture similar to that of a soufflé, or serve the cake cold if you prefer a dense, fudgey texture.

Velvety frosting and tender cake make this dessert rich and indulgent enough for any special occasion, any time of year.

Grand Marnier gives an extra kick to the frozen orange mousse, and pistachios make the crust crunchy. Start preparing this at least a day before you plan to serve it.