Editors' Favorite Desserts

François Payard, of Manhattan's Payard Patisserie & Bistro, layers chewy coconut cake with silky chocolate ganache. The beauty of the recipe is its simplicity: It has only six ingredients.

In these single-serving desserts from F&W's Grace Parisi, the rich and creamy cheesecakes are baked atop a chocolate-wafer base. You don't need any special equipment to make them—just a muffin tin and foil liners.

When pastry chef Lara Atkins was little, her mother made this cake for her bridge club; Atkins remembers how she and her brothers would have to wait (and wait and wait) for their slices until all the ladies of the club had served themselves. Atkins now makes the cake for her son, who never has to wait for his piece.

This dreamy, creamy dessert started as a simple chocolate pudding made with workaday cocoa. Melissa Rubel Jacobson turned it into a homey, silky pie by adding a quick chocolate crust and vanilla-flavored whipped cream. "But you could still serve just the filling as a pudding," she says.

Pastry chef Nicole Krasinski's buttery, flaky cookies are perfect for sandwiching a juicy compote of plump blueberries, topped with a light, silky meringue.

You can use store-bought pralines to make the crust for this fluffy cheesecake, but this quick praline recipe is worth the extra effort, as is the buttery caramel sauce that gets pooled on top.

Mascarpone is an Italian cheese that's superrich, delicate and creamy. Here, it's simply blended with confectioners' sugar to create a sublime, snow-white frosting. For the best results, try to buy mascarpone that's very fresh.

For the best results, slice the cheesecake bars with a warm knife, wiping off the blade between cuts.

If you don't have a pastry bag with a fitted tip, you can fill these cupcakes by carving a hole in the center (from the top) with a sharp paring knife. Put the filling in a resealable plastic bag and snip off one of the corners. Pipe the filling directly into the hole.

If you see sugar crystals on the sides of the pot while making caramel, dissolve them with a pastry brush that has been dipped in water until well moistened.