Torta Morbida agli Amaretti, Pere e Cioccolato Fondente (Italian Amaretti, Pear and Dark Chocolate Cake) A full cup of crushed amaretti goes into this batter before a single pear is peeled. The biscuits replace part of the flour and carry almond, sugar and dried egg white into a crumb that stays soft for days. Ripe pears keep it damp, and dark chocolate adds bitter pockets that stop the almond turning cloying. Yield: 10 slices from one 9 inch cake. Prep: 25 minutes. Bake: 50

Torta di Riso, Pere e Amaretti (Italian Rice Cake with Pears and Amaretti) Torta di riso is a cake without flour. Arborio rice cooked in vanilla milk until it collapses, eggs to bind it, crushed amaretti for bitter almond, and pears caramelized in butter. It bakes dense, moist and faintly sandy, closer to a baked custard than to a sponge, and it is always better the next day. Yield: 12 slices from a 9 inch (23 cm) pan. Prep: 45 minutes. Bake: 50 to 60 minutes at 350°F (175°C)

Panettone Pere, Cioccolato Fondente e Mascarpone (Italian Pear, Dark Chocolate and Mascarpone Panettone) Panettone is the hardest thing in the Italian dessert repertoire, and the reason is not the shaping or the proof. It is heat. This version carries dried pear, candied pear and dark chocolate through a dough enriched with mascarpone, and almost every decision answers one question: how do you keep it cool enough to survive the mixer. Yield: one 2 lb (900 g) panettone, 12 ser