Parfait

Sweet, tart, crunchy, and creamy, this dessert is just about perfect, and low-carb to boot! This is perfect for Sunday brunch, or as a light and refreshing ending to a heavy winter meal. Try it with blood oranges when they’re in season, or your favorite combination of citrus fruits.

Making parfaits is easy, and they are such a healthful, elegant dessert or snack. Make sure to use lush, ripe fruit and a good, creamy low-fat yogurt. I prefer vanilla, but if you’d like, experiment with lemon- or orange-flavored yogurts. I also like to use two different fruits for the visual appeal, but if you’d like to stick with one, that works as well. Try your own fruit combinations in addition to the ones given here.

This recalls for me the chocolate-and-bread sandwiches that sometimes were my lunch, and always a special treat. And it is another inventive way surplus is used in Umbrian cuisine, with leftover country bread serving as the foundation of an elegant layered dessert. Though it is soaked with chocolate and espresso sauce and buried in whipped cream, the bread doesn’t disintegrate, and provides a pleasing textural contrast in every heavenly spoonful.

No yolk: Egg whites and meringue cookies are virtually fat-free, making way for heavy cream in this chocolaty dish. And yet each portion comes in at only 234 calories.

The monounsaturated fats in this dessert's hazelnuts are super satiating. Trust us: You'll want seconds—but maybe not until tomorrow.

Savoring dark chocolate daily is linked to lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that can lead to excess belly fat. Chocolate and flat abs? Fab.

Berries and orange juice are top sources for vitamin C, which may help you blast up to 30 percent more fat during exercise. Suh-weet!

Fresh figs are a wealth of life force, containing thousands of tiny seeds that make them a very virile and hormone-rich food. These delicate fruits are very popular in the cuisines of Europe and the Middle East, where they originated. Feel free to use any sprouted nut in the preparation of the nut kreme; pecans are my favorite.

This strikingly colorful dessert pairs tart rhubarb with rich Greek-style yogurt. Use a light colored honey that won't dull the rhubarb's bright hue. If you are using regular yogurt, start this recipe the night before so that it can strain overnight.

The juicy Honeycrisp apple is the sweetest of the bunch. Combine it (instead of berries) with tart, creamy Greek yogurt for a seasonal, satisfying breakfast.

A trifle is not only one of the most elegant desserts around, it's also one of the most exuberant—which is why it is tempting to toss aside decorum and dive right into the bowl. The nontraditional version here is sturdy, made with robust gingerbread and mellow pumpkin mousse instead of the classic spongecake and custard.

With its ample doses of maple syrup, cream, and the freshest berries, this easy, elegant treat will knock apple pie off its pedestal. True to the spirit of Yankee thrift, any leftover berry mixture can be put to good use at tomorrow's breakfast table, as a topping for pancakes.

An extra dose of decadent chocolate gives this classic layered dessert new life.

This sophisticated blend of strawberries, red-currant jelly, balsamic vinegar, and bay leaves may just replace chocolate sauce as your favorite ice cream topping.

Get two of your daily fruit servings with this diet-friendly dessert from Annie Clemmons, pastry chef at Cyrus in Healdsburg, California.

Whipped cream, fresh lemons and sweet raspberries add homemade flavor to purchased lemon curd.

For the prettiest parfaits, look for the reddest rhubarb possible at the supermarket or farmers market.

Jell-O has been glimmering and shimmering since 1897, and it took America by storm during the 1920s: That was the era for molded salads and desserts. Jell-O has been a staple in the American pantry since then, and in 1997, in celebration of its hundred-year anniversary, the company brought out a sparkling white grape flavor that is mixed with seltzer rather than water, giving it an appealing spritz. Here we’ve added sweet Muscat wine, too.

Parfait is the French word for "perfect," and these elegant little treats live up to the billing. Served straight from the freezer, their texture is similar to ice cream's, but they take on a mousselike consistency when thawed for a minute or two on the plate.