Tart

Purchased puff pastry makes the flaky crust super-easy, while using a nonstick cake pan makes the tarte a cinch to remove.

This large rustic tart has hints of anise, cinnamon and clove, spices that are also found in the noted honey cake of Burgundy, pain d'épice. The apples can be roasted one day ahead so that the tart can be baked early in the day on Christmas Eve.

This elegant no-bake cheesecake has a smooth, airy filling similar to a mousse. To make the graham cracker crumbs, blend graham cracker pieces in a food processor.

An elegant tart with a cookie-like crust.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 10 hr

This tart was inspired by a plum tart often cooked by the mother of Lisa's college roommate. Due to Lisa's reckless dissemination of that recipe (which caused an overpopulation of plum tarts up and down the eastern seaboard), her recipe-exchange privileges with said mother have been revoked.

Maureen Abood of Chicago, Illinois, writes: "Whenever my mother visits my sister and me in Chicago, we have dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, where we can look out the large windows onto Lincoln Park as we eat. I'd love to make the luscious chocolate tart served there for my mother the next time I'm home." The soft caramel filling is a terrific showcase for — and contrast to — the toasted nuts.

(Tarte Renversée Caramélisée aux Abricots) This terrific dessert is similar to a classic apple-based tarte Tatin.

This style of tart, which has a texture reminiscent of pecan pie but is spiced with cinnamon and lemon peel and studded with raisins, is a specialty of the Borders, a southeast region that stretches from the English border to just south of Edinburgh. Many variations exist, some of them simply called "Border Tart." This one has as its namesake the village of Ecclefechan. Serve the tart at room temperature for afternoon tea or barely warm with a dollop of whipped cream and a scattering of toasted walnuts.

This recipe works well with other fresh fruits such as nectarines, plums, figs, and bananas.

This free-form Italian tart has a tender and buttery crust; in the filling, Asian seasonings enhance the apples and pear, classic French dessert ingredients.

A delicious treat from Aspa Herrgård. If you don't want to caramelize the top in brûlée style, just sift powdered sugar over the tart before serving.

This is the best clafouti I have ever tasted, for it is short on flour, long on custard, and the butter gives it an added depth of flavor. Remove the pits if you like. If you leave the pits in the cherries, be sure to warn your guests so they don't crack their teeth!

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from chef Neil Perry's book Rockpool. Neil also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. For your convenience, we've converted the measures — with as much accuracy as possible — from Australian to American. For those who have metric equipment and wish to follow Neil's recipe to the milliliter, we've included the original measures too. To read more about Neil and Australian cuisine, click here. This tart should be to Australians what lemon tart is to the Poms. If one fruit stands out in my mind as Australian it would have to be the passion fruit. Its intensity sets it apart from other fruits and, it is an ideal partner for cream and eggs. We cooked the Roux brothers' luscious lemon tart for many years at Rockpool and this tart draws its inspiration from that. Chris Manfield runs the Paramount Restaurant in Sydney with Margie Harris, and makes a terrific passion fruit tart from a pastry shell filled with passion fruit curd. The food at the Paramount is extremely creative and delicious; Chris cooks in her own unique style and is one of the very best contemporary Australian chefs, but she is at her best and most creative when it comes to desserts. I see no need to serve cream with this tart. You will need a 26 cm (10-inch) tin.

A crowd-pleasing dessert that pairs creamy orange custard with tart blackberry puree.