Cooking with Fruit

Fruit provides inspiration for innumerable desserts and may also be served alone, with cheese, or as an accompaniment to poultry and meat dishes. It provides the basic flavoring in creams, mousses and charlottes, not to mention ice creams and sorbets, all discussed in the Cold Desserts and Ice Creams chapter. Pastry is another natural partner for fruit. America is famous for its apple pie, France for pear feuilletés and Austria for strudel. Many fruit desserts such as soufflés, batter puddings and crêpes, also use dairy products and eggs.