Vanilla

Of course you can put what you like on your scones, but I'll usually opt for a traditional cream tea of jam and clotted cream. Cream tea etiquette is fiercely disputed in the West Country. The Cornish put strawberry jam on their scones first, then the clotted cream; in Devon and Dorset, it is customary to do it the other way around. Personally, I prefer raspberry jam and I always put jam on first, even though I live on the Devon-Dorset border.

The compote would also be great with angel food cake or sorbet.

Bread pudding was originally created as a way to use up stale bread. Today, the dessert is a favorite in the U.K. and the U.S. Here, rich brioche is combined with a vanilla custard and pieces of tangy ginger-infused rhubarb.

Really good cream makes really good ice cream. This recipe is made on an egg-mousse base with softly whipped cream. It produces a deliciously rich ice cream with a smooth texture that does not need further whisking during the freezing period. This ice cream should not be served frozen hard; remove it from the freezer at least 10 minutes before serving. You can add other flavorings to the basic recipe: liquid ingredients such as melted chocolate or coffee should be folded into the mousse before adding the cream. For chunkier ingredients such as chocolate chips or muscatel raisins soaked in rum, finish the ice cream, semi-freeze it, and then stir them through, otherwise they will sink to the bottom.

Good vanilla pods are expensive, so store them in a tall Mason jar of superfine sugar. They will flavor it and you can use it as vanilla sugar.

This sweet-tart compote is made up of cooked kumquat and lemon slices and fresh blood orange segments. This recipe is an accompaniment for the Meyer Lemon Shortcakes with Meyer Curd and Mixed Citrus "Marmelade".

This delicious dessert requires a little bit of planning. The day before baking the cheesecake, drain the ricotta in the fridge. Once the cheesecake is baked, it needs to chill one day to firm up. For the proper texture, be sure to use fresh ricotta cheese; it's available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Italian markets.

A combination of fresh grapefruit juice and Campari (the bitter Italian aperitif) gives the granita a refreshing bite. A dollop of whipped cream brings everything into balance.

A light, tender cake that’s perfectly spiced. Any leftovers would be delicious with coffee or tea the next day.

This upside-down cake is made in a skillet instead of a cake pan. When you invert the dessert, thin slices of vibrantly colored blood oranges end up on top.

Start preparing the liqueur at least three weeks ahead.

This delicious treat is a cross between butterscotch pudding and pecan pie.

This homey dessert gets its name from its lack of structure, which causes it to slump on the plate. Slumps are also known as grunts, a name that may describe the sound berries make as they cook. No matter which name you use, this old-fashioned treat is usually made of cooked fruit with a biscuit topping. Here, dried figs, apricots, tart cherries, and raisins make up the filling. The light, airy biscuits are similar to dumplings.

Like many delicious treats, this preparation takes a bit of time and planning. You can speed up the process of proofing the dough if you leave the dough covered at room temperature for an hour or so, instead of letting it rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Cinnamon and banana liqueur give this version of the iconic dessert lots of bold flavor.

I'd often sneak into my mom's car and ride stowaway-style in the back seat when she left home to "make groceries" at the A&P or Schwegmann's. No sooner had she turned off the ignition than I'd pop my head up and scare the bejesus out of her! In the market, we'd get coffee beans ground fresh from this giant red coffee grinder—I swear it was at least 3 feet tall. My mom gave the coffee man (usually the bagger at the checkout aisle) explicit instructions on the coarseness of the bean grind for her chicory-laced coffee. After he had bagged our beans, I'd stick my nose up the metal spout and inhale the heady aroma that always made me dizzy and happy. In a typical New Orleans home, a pitcher of coffee can almost always be found in the fridge, whether left over from the morning or brewed specifically to make iced coffee later in the day. This coffee and chicory cupped cake is made with a stiff, eggless cake batter that gets topped with a cocoa crumble and then covered with coffee. Baked in actual coffee cups, the cake soufflés up and makes its own built-in lava sauce on the bottom. It's fantastic eaten within an hour or two of baking while the cake is still warm, soft, and molten.