Berry

A trifle with a few twists: a white chocolate pudding and layers of dark chocolate cream and apricot puree.

Ginger, curry powder and Chinese five-spice powder turn up in this northwestern version of a classic holiday relish.

Cake-making equipment and ingredients can be found at cake and candy supply stores. Be sure to use cake flour, not all purpose flour, and begin preparing the cake two days ahead. Buy one 1-ounce bottle of gel base color in the shade called Bakers Rose to tint both the frosting and the fondant a pale pink. Plastic drinking straws are used to support the middle and top tiers. Buy the straight—not bendable—kind.

Here, the classic cranberry sauce becomes a salsa. The traditional ingredients — cranberries and orange — are enhanced with decidedly untraditional ones, such as a poblano chili and cilantro.

Festive and pretty, this do-ahead dessert is a boon for busy hosts.

Arlene sometimes uses sliced apricots, peaches or whole strawberries instead of plums for an equally delicious topping.

A light-textured baked apricot meringue.

This super easy relish stays on the savory side. It makes a wonderful accompaniment to poultry, beef, or game.

Cream cheese was added to the ricotta for this smooth, luscious dessert. But if you can find fresh ricotta, which is less grainy than some of the commercial types, use it and omit the cream cheese.

In this dish, the richness of the venison is balanced by the sweet-tart fruit compote.

Shortbread cookie crust meets airy filling.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The recipe for this delicious and speedy summer pie ws given to me by a food-writing colleague, Dede Ely-Singer. The filling requires no baking, is quick to prepare, and can be varied to suit whatever combination of berries and fruits is in season. The technique is simple: some of the fruit is first mashed and cooked into a thickened sauce. Then the remaining fresh fruit is stirred in and the entire mixture turned out into a completely prebaked pastry shell and chilled. The filling can also be served as a pudding without any pastry. Advance preparation: The pastry can be prebaked a day in advance. The filling should be made early in the day, and the pie filled and set to chill at least 3 hours before serving.