10 Quick-Fix Desserts Slideshow

This free-form tart or pie can go from start to finish in just over an hour and can be filled with your choice of fresh fruit.

Cookbook author and baker Alice Medrich loves serving cookies and ice cream with homemade hot fudge sauce for a quick-fix dessert. Her brownies and lemon bars are not to be missed.

When entertaining, cookbook author and food editor Mindy Fox likes to serve something simple that her guests can interact with, like a bowl of dried apricots and figs, along with walnuts to crack and a large block of very good chocolate (hot chocolate or coffee is optional).

Everyone loves to play with food, so why not encourage it by serving your guests a bowl of warm chocolate fondue, accompanied by chunks of pound cake, marshmallows, and berries?

This gluten-free fruit dessert is light and fresh, yet indulgent enough thanks to its cream base.

This versatile dish functions well both as a dessert and a breakfast dish. While we prefer using sliced fresh fruit for the base, you can turn to frozen fruit and berries if you're in a pinch.

Like to be prepared? Triple or quadruple the crisp topping, storing what is not needed in a well-sealed container in the freezer, for next time you're short on dessert.

This rich and flavorful dessert takes only 30 minutes to make. Serve with a couple of chocolate-covered espresso beans or candied orange peel. Don't have either? Whipped cream and chocolate shavings will do!

This easy dessert from Frankies' 457 in New York City features dried plums that are slowly cooked in red wine until they are meltingly tender and the wine has reduced to a sweet, deep red syrup. They're served atop a dollop of mascarpone and drizzled with the syrup. Serve with some crisp biscotti or another crispy cookie.

An hour before your guests arrive, toss the bread cubes in the egg mixture and let it steep until the first course is served. Bake this bread pudding while you enjoy your meal. By the time you're ready to serve dessert, the bread pudding will be cooked and cool enough to serve.

Inspired by Italian cannoli fillings, this light yet seemingly decadent dessert comes together in mere minutes. Serve along with almond cookies or crunchy biscotti — tea or espresso optional.