Pudding

Minus the ice cream, this delicate pudding makes a wonderfully indulgent breakfast.

This is a variant on lemon surprise pudding, in which the mixture divides on cooking to produce a sponge above the thick lemony sauce which forms below. Indeed, it is known in my house as Lemon Surprise Pudding, the surprise being that it's chocolate. Although I didn't actually eat this as a child, it is heady with reminders of childhood foods: the hazelnuts in the sponge bring back memories of Nutella, the thick, dark, fudgy sauce of chocolate spread. The proportions below are geared towards 6, but easily feed 8. It's heavenly with fridge-cold heavy cream poured over it. It is also child's play to make. Choose good cocoa and good chocolate and stick carefully to the exact measurements. (You can, though, use 1 2/3 cups flour in place of the 1 1/4 cups flour and 1/2 cup ground nuts, if you prefer increasing the amount of baking powder needed to 1 1/2 teaspoons.) Use one of those standard white soufflé dishes 8 inches in diameter, or a shallow square 12-inch pan. If you've got only a single oven, it makes sense to use the shallow dish: it will take less time to cook.

A classic Italian dessert receives a double dose of berries.

If rice pudding is getting a little too comfortable, try our version with fresh pineapple, mango, and papaya. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 30 min

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 4 hr (includes cooling)

Here is a sensational layering of cake and toffee sauce that's served warm, accompanied by whipped cream or crème fraîche.

The lingonberry, a relative of the cranberry, grows wild in the Scandinavian mountains. It adds tartness to the following traditional Danish sweet.

This surprisingly rich-tasting cereal is a healthful rice pudding — for breakfast. If you can't find dried mango in your local supermarket or natural foods store, you can use dried apricots instead.

This is a fabulous pudding-like dessert that's very easy to make.

The Finns rely on cereal as one of the mainstays of their diet, since barley, rye and buckwheat grow well in their country. The barley pudding is a good substitute for potatoes, noodles or rice.

If mention of "pinto" brings to mind pink beans, think again this time: The following "pinto" bread pudding contains none of those beans beloved of chili fans but is named for the distinctive calico splotches that pattern the West's pinto pony.

Marge Dawson of Ivoryton, Connecticut, writes: "My daughter and I went to Thali, an Indian restaurant in New Canaan, Connecticut, and had a superb meal. I have never been a fan of rice pudding, but their version was out of this world. Is there any chance you could get the recipe?"

Sweet and tart at the same time, the compote is spooned atop creamy chilled custard for a satisfying Italian dessert.

Caramelizing the top of this pudding adds an extra depth of flavor, but it's equally delicious without doing it. A blowtorch works best here; the broiler didn't give us the uniform browning we wanted.

Simple yet sumptuous desserts like this one — where readily available ingredients such as bananas or yams are cooked in sweet coconut milk — are a specialty of Malay cooking. The pudding is traditionally made with pearl sago and palm sugar.