Richard Olney, the late culinary sage, had some very strong opinions about dessert, and frankly, we're here for it. In his masterpiece, *The French Menu Cookbook*, Olney decreed that rich desserts belong only after the simplest of meals, while anything sophisticated calls for something light, airy, and playful. His list of suggestions reads like a summer fruit poem: peach melba, apple mousse with peaches, apricot fritters dusted with icing sugar, strawberries in sweetened orange juice, strawberries in beaujolais, strawberry mousse with raspberry puree, iced cherries, and fresh almonds. And for late summer or early autumn, he offered fresh figs with raspberry cream (figues à la crème framboise) - a dessert that's both fun to make (watch that red puree streak through the cream like a raspberry ripple) and fun to eat.

Of course, an airy and playful pudding demands an airy and playful biscuit, and what better than *lingue di gatto*, or cat tongues, aptly named for their flat, elongated shape? Made from butter, sugar, flour, and egg whites, these biscuits aren't complicated, but they do require a piping bag. If you don't have one, fear not - a zip-lock bag works fine. Just remember to scrape the mixture in first and only snip the corner when you're ready to pipe. Because nothing says 'sophisticated summer dessert' like improvisational pastry equipment.