Custard

This version of clafouti is like a custard.

This traditional French dessert combines all the best qualities of custard, pudding, and cake.

Crema Pasticciera I Campanians are wild for pastry cream. Thickened with flour, rich with eggs, flavored with vanilla, lemon, chocolate, or coffee, it fills cream puffs, sponge cakes, and ladyfingers in all the composed desserts called delizie (delights), and the grandest of all, Zuppa Inglese. It goes under fruits and fruit preserves in tarts, which are called either crostate or pizze. It forms a topknot in the hole of the famous fried Zeppole di Guiseppe, the bignè — or French crullers, you might call them — made in honor of St. Joseph on March 19. Pastry cream is also one of the bases for frozen desserts. It can be lightened with whipped cream, thinned with loquid cream. It also makes a fine sauce, the same as the French crè anglaise. This recipe requires total concentration and a quick eye and hand. The eggs must be heated just to the point that they do their maximum thickening and never so much that they scramble. The starch must be kept in constant motion, too; otherwise it will lump. I find that even with the best technique it is always prudent to be prepared with a strainer placed over a bowl. No matter how careful you are, there are frequently at least a few lumps that need to be smoothed out.

Chef Lionel Lévy uses black olives in this unusual clafoutis but still serves it as a dessert, along with a mâche salad drizzled with lemon-honey vinaigrette. We like that combination in place of an after-dinner cheese course, but we also think it makes an excellent (and surprising) first course.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Pear Charlottes with Chamomile Crème Anglaise .

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. When blood oranges are out of season, you can use any type of seedless orange.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. This foamy custard is a traditional Italian dessert. Delicious with no accompaniment at all, it's even better spooned over fresh fruit or served with biscotti. Be sure to have anything else you plan to serve with the zabaglione ready to go, as it really is best eaten just seconds off the stove.

(Coffee Custards)

These pots de crème won raves from our food editors for their wonderful butterscotch flavor and creamy texture. The combination of muscovado and Demerara sugars gives the custard its deep flavor.

Rich, refreshing and easy — the perfect finale to an elegant summer dinner.

We've given a range on the amount of instant-espresso powder in this recipe: If you like a pronounced coffee flavor, use 2 teaspoons espresso powder; for a taste that's more subtle, go with 1 1/2 teaspoons.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 4 hr

This surprisingly rich-tasting custard has much less fat than the classic version made with egg yolks. In another twist, we call for vin santo instead of the conventional choice, Marsala.

From the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona.