COOK'S CORNER SIMPLY DELICIOUS YOU'RE ONLY FIVE INGREDIENTS AWAY FROM A GREAT HOMEMADE DESSERT.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

It's possible to make delicious desserts in a jiffy with few ingredients. The new ``500 5-Ingredient Desserts: Decadent and Divine Recipes for Everyday Cooking,'' by Robert Hildebrand and Carol Hildebrand (Fair Winds Press; $19.95), will show you how.

The five-ingredient promise is appealing - and makes for lots of fast, fabulous goodies - among them cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, brownies, bars, frozen desserts, puddings, custards, fruit desserts, candies, souffles, sauces and frosting.

The brother-sister author duo, in this, their second cookbook, rely on many readily available, convenient and time-saving supermarket ingredients like caramel sauce, frozen puff pastry, cake mixes, tea and coffee mixes, ladyfingers, blood orange juice, chocolate-cookie pie crusts, self-rising flour, sweetened condensed milk, graham cracker crumbs, jams, ice creams, sorbets, frozen berries and more to turn out some terrific-sounding creations. Among them are Mini Turtle Tarts, Gingerbread-Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte, Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars, Chocolate-Raspberry Layer Cake, Chocolate Eggnog Torte and much more.

In the last 25 years, supermarkets have gone from carrying 10,000 to 25,000 items - some good and some bad for you, points out Robert, the executive chef at the Three Stallion Inn in Randolph, Vt., who switched careers eight years ago at the age of 35 (before that, he was an economist in the financial industry for 15 years). There are many good ingredient options with lots of flavor that lend themselves to lush five-ingredient dessert possibilities, he adds - for example, pumpkin pie filling that's already spiced and sweetened.

Not counted in the five ingredients are fat (butters, shortenings, oils), water and salt. We noticed a cookie recipe, for instance, with both a crust and filling that appears to have more than five ingredients listed, but Robert explains that the same five ingredients, such as sugar, vanilla, etc., have been repeated twice - once in the crust and again in the filling - so not more than five different ingredients total have been used throughout.

``This is a book designed for people who want to cook some stylish desserts on an everyday basis on the fly,'' he says by phone from his restaurant kitchen in Vermont. ``Preparations are fairly straightforward - and any reasonable cook should be fairly comfortable doing them.''

Being a chocolate freak, he's partial to the chocolate recipes in the book, but says he also likes the numerous tarts along with lots of fun cookies.

``We wanted to make real food with real ingredients. We encourage people to mess around with our recipes - and add more and other spices and ingredients.'' At the bottom of some of the recipes, suggestions are included.

Here's a sampling of recipes from the book. Give them a whirl for Thanksgiving, throughout the holiday season and beyond. Keep this tempting 512-page volume (unfortunately it contains no color photographs) in mind for holiday gifting, too.

CHOCOLATE-TOFFEE PIE

1 (10-ounce) jar marshmallow fluff

6 ounces milk chocolate

1 cup English toffee bits

1 cup heavy whipping cream 

1 baked chocolate cookie pie crust

In a saucepan, melt marshmallow and chocolate over low heat, mixing thoroughly. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then fold in toffee.

In a bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks and fold into chocolate mixture. Turn into pie crust and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until set. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

NOTE: Substitute dark chocolate for milk chocolate, if desired.

FROZEN PUMPKIN CHIFFON TORTE

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 cups (OR 1 15-ounce can) pumpkin pie filling

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Soften ice cream at room temperature until almost melting. Line bottom of a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

Mix sugar and cracker crumbs in a mixing bowl; stir in melted butter until well mixed. Press crumb mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely. Line side of pan (inside) with parchment paper.

Place ice cream in a mixing bowl and add pumpkin. Beat on high speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

Whip cream to stiff peaks and fold into pumpkin mixture. Spread in pan over crust. Freeze at least 6 hours.

To serve, remove sides of pan and parchment paper. Flip torte onto a plate and remove bottom of pan and parchment. Flip back onto a serving platter. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

TO DECORATE: Press a circle of candied pecan halves around top of torte before serving. Decorate with additional whipped cream, if desired.

CHOCOLATE-CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.

Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in a double boiler OR in microwave oven. Set aside.

Using a mixer on medium speed, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and melted chocolate and beat 3 to 4 minutes longer.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in remaining 2 cups chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonful onto cookie sheets, leaving 3 inches between cookies.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly brown and set, but still soft. Cool on cookie sheets 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 36 cookies.

STEAMED PERSIMMON PUDDING

1 pound ripe persimmons (about 3 or 4)

1 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 cup whole OR 2 percent milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Grease a 1-quart pudding mold.

Remove tops from persimmons, remove and discard skin and cut into quarters. Put in a food processor fitted with metal blade and process until smooth. You should have about 1 cup fruit puree.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar (mixed with cinnamon), flour and baking soda. Mix well. In another bowl, mix together milk and persimmon puree. Mix in melted butter. Stir this into dry ingredients until well combined. Spoon batter into pudding mold. Cover tightly with foil and place mold in a baking pan. Add 1 to 2 inches boiling water to pan.

Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven 45 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool standing in the water bath. Remove pudding from the mold. Serve slices with whipped cream or hard sauce, if desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

NOTE: Chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts, or raisins are all good additions.

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(color) no caption (book: ``500 5-Ingredient Desserts: Decadent and Divine Recipes for Everyday Cooking'')