Pear

A cardamom- and orange-scented syrup is spooned over warm pears and scoops of vanilla ice cream in this lovely dessert. Refrigerate leftover poaching syrup to serve over ice cream later in the week.

Perfect at the end of a fall meal. Top the dessert with sweetened whipped cream, or team it with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Store-bought crusts make these scrumptious a snap to prepare.

Great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Jeanne Thiel Kelley, Bon Appétit contributing editor, says, "My dad makes a great stuffing that has sweet Italian sausage in it. I used to love going with him to get the sausage from Pumas Italian market in Los Angeles. I would pick out a new cookie and come home with a shape of pasta I had never seen before. These days, I don't always get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents, so rather than make a wanna-be version of Dad's stuffing, I developed this one, which is pretty darn good."

The 1970s saw perhaps the biggest change in cooking in this century. That's when a group of talented young chefs in France came up with "nouvelle cuisine," emphasizing fresh ingredients, elegant presentation, and interesting and unusual combinations of foods and flavors. American chefs quickly imported it and made it into something uniquely their own. For our take on this landmark in contemporary cooking, we've shaped purchased puff pastry into individual tartlet, filled them with pistachio frangipane and sliced pears, and topped it all off with a sweet-wine glaze.

A rustic tart with a delicious hazelnut crust, sweet filling and buttery topping.

Pears and pear nectar add a delightful accent.

Melting the chocolate in the pear poaching liquid makes an instant sauce.

Seasonal pears are poached and then layered with a caramel whipped cream and pound cake to turn England's comforting trifle into a lovely fall dessert.

Combining smooth and grainy Dijon mustards results in a sauce that has both depth of flavor and satisfying texture.

Make these individual desserts a day ahead.

This is a cozy, fireside kind of winter dessert. The lightness of the fruit and flaky phyllo balance the rich Madeira custard sauce.