Tart

This makes more pastry dough than you'll need for 24 tartlets. We chose not to reduce the recipe because pastry can be a bit tricky—the slightest change can affect the outcome (halving eggs tends to increase the chance of error). If you want to make more tartlet shells—which could be filled with fruit, ice cream, or pudding for another party—they can be frozen for 1 month. The leftover dough can also be used to make cookies.

English toffee puts the finishing touch on this scrumptious tart. For especially good results, use strongly flavored coffee ice cream.

The "tart shells" are crisp meringues; they're filled with a soft, mint-infused lemon cream. The meringue shells can be baked one day before serving the dessert.

The pastry for this tart is very light and crisp. For best results, handle it as little as possible and keep it cool. You will need a 12 1/2- by 1-inch fluted round tart pan with a removable bottom, available at cookware shops and by mail order from Bridge Kitchenware, tel. (800) 274-3435 or (212) 838-1901.

No special pan is needed to make this outstanding free-form tart. The pear filling is complemented by buttery pastry and a nice streusel topping.

Here's a candy-bar-like tart that has all the appeal of a New Orleans praline or a chocolate Turtle; this dessert version is minus the nuts.

Blueberries top a creamy light mousse in this terrific dessert. It can be made a day ahead, then garnished with the white chocolate shavings before serving.

There's a rich cream cheese base in this simple yet sophisticated dessert.

This is a cross between two English classics. The Bakewell tart, named after the town in Derbyshire where it was supposedly invented by accident in the nineteenth century, is a layered jam, custard and almond treat. Burnt cream is the English cousin and forerunner of the French crème brûée. It's also known as Trinity cream, since it is thought to have originated at Cambridge's Trinity College in the eighteenth century.

Hélène Wagner-Popoff writes, "My husband, Ivan, and I moved to Corsica from Madagascar eleven years ago on a whim. We restored an abandoned convent and saved the thousand-year-old olive grove surrounding it. The fact that I live in the country — with the luxury of having a garden full of wonderful ingredients — makes it easy for me to love cooking. I strive to teach my three little girls how to take pleasure in the simple, good things in life."

This lovely dessert must be chilled at least two hours (or up to one day) before serving.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 6 1/4 hr (includes cooling and chilling)

Active time: 1 3/4 hr Start to finish: 2 3/4 hr (includes making pastry shell)

The chef bakes individual tarts in small cast-iron pans, but he suggests that the home cook make one large tart. He serves each tart with a scoop of his own vanilla-bean ice cream and a "barber pole" of dark and white chocolates.

This tart will satisfy any chocolate lover. To make the chocolate curls, briefly microwave a 12-ounce block of bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened) until it's just slightly softened. Pull the blade of a heavy large knife across the surface to form curls.