Vanilla

This tastes like vanilla ice cream and feels like snow.

Îles flottantes, puffy clouds of softly poached meringue floating on a vanilla custard sauce, may look ethereal on the plate, but this is really a homey French farmhouse dessert. It was probably devised to make ingenious use of fresh farm eggs and milk, plus a little sugar.

These little scallop-shaped cakes are a classic teatime treat in France.

Bev Heinecke of San Anselmo, California, writes: "Many of our favorite family recipes come from my mother-in-law, Hannah, who was a wonderful cook. When my sons were younger I made her chocolate macaroons and pancakes all the time. I don't make them quite as often as I used to, but they're still a hit with my husband."

A far is a custardy pudding cake, similar to a clafouti but with a dense, smooth, flan-like texture. This one, studded with brandy-soaked prunes and raisins, is the signature pastry of Brittany, served for breakfast as well as dessert.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman's book the A Return To Cooking. To read more about Ripert, click here. This is the cook at work, switching a few ingredients from the pastry chef's mise to his own. Except for the sugar, chocolate, and pastry cream, this is just like cooking dinner. The sauce is simply an all-purpose ganache that can be used for all manner of desserts.

A corkscrew shape gives these light cookies a new look.

Shari Ledwidge of Greenehaven, Arizona, writes: "My husband and I spend several weeks each year traveling around the United States. Our journeys always take us to wonderful food stands and farmers' markets, which have inspired some of my favorite recipes."

This dessert has been the grand finale for every type of fancy dinner at Highlands, from museum balls we've catered to family Thanksgiving meals to nightly desserts. Buttery sweet potato filling, sweet coconut, and crunchy pecans combine with a dark rum crème anglaise to make a minor classic. This also pairs well with a cinnamon crème anglaise (see Variation).

A vanilla bean is an extravagance that lends a note of sophistication to this drink, but extract is a fine substitute.

Elise McBryde of Stamford, Connecticut, writes: "I would love to have the recipe for the Valrhona chocolate pudding served at the City Limits Diner, in Stamford, Connecticut."

Like all the names of the desserts at Sugar, this one is a play on a literary work (André Gide's The Immoralist). The campfire favorite is made at once more refined and more scrumptious: Meltingly soft, homemade marshmallows are caramelized atop tender, crumbly chocolate sablé cookies. You will need to use a stand mixer to prepare the fresh marshmallows, and a kitchen blowtorch to caramelize them.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Chai-Spiced Honey Bundt Cakes . Any leftover syrup would be delicious drizzled over pancakes.