Dessert Person

Don’t know what to make with your late-summer farmers market fruit haul? Try this simple custard tart — a crisp but tender base filled with a rich vanilla pastry cream — and top with any fruit you like. This is one of those desserts that might call to you from the pastry case in the bakery with its gleaming and perfectly arranged fruit, but homemade is almost always better. Claire walks you through all the steps.

If you're in a hurry and looking for a quick and easy homemade doughnut that isn't too greasy or heavy then this recipe is for you! On this next installment of “Dessert People,” Friend and Author of "Life is What You Bake It" Vallery Lomas shows Claire how to make easy Old-Fashioned Doughnuts. These cake doughnuts come together quick as they are not yeast-raised and the added sour cream provides for a fantastic taste and texture.

Sour Cherry Pie occupies a perch on the dessert hierarchy above all others, sitting high and mighty. That’s because sour cherry pie, when executed well, has juicy but set filling, a balanced sweet-tart flavor, and golden flaky pastry. It’s everything a dessert should be and more. Here is Claire’s, inspired by the pies her mom used to make when she was a kid and informed by all the pie-making wisdom she’s gathered in her baking lifetime. Sour cherry season is fleeting, but seek out frozen ones and make this pie all year long.

In case anyone needs reminding, baking is more than just sweets — it can be dinner! This Crispy, Cheesy Pan Pizza is an all star recipe by the amazing bakers at King Arthur Baking Company, so who better to walk Claire through it than her good friend David Tamarkin, King Arthur’s editorial director. Everyone deserves a little pan pizza in their life, and this one delivers and then some.

Today on Dessert Person, Claire Saffitz walks you through 3 different variations (Swiss, Italian, French) for buttercream frosting. Although the french-style buttercream requires a bit of choreography - Claire believes it might be the best chocolate frosting you'll ever try. You can find the recipe for Claire's Silkiest Chocolate Buttercream on page 359 in Dessert Person.

Want a simple, easy, delicious fall treat you can make with one bowl and pantry ingredients? Guest Yossy Arefi -- photographer, food stylist, and author of the brilliant cookbook Snacking Cakes -- shows us a simple loaf cake that will fulfill all your baking desires.

As a classic Thanksgiving dessert, pumpkin pie really should stay classic. Claire’s recipe amps it up with some brown butter and caramelized honey, but it stays close to home and simply results in the best pumping pie you’re likely ever to have — silky, balanced, rich, and not weighed down by too much sugar or spice.