pastry chef Gaston Lenotre's "Desserts and Pastries'' cookbook -- now available at the Bermuda Library -- will bring the most elegant and scrumptuous of after-dinner treats to your table.

As one would expect of someone who owns four shops, a catering service, and a school for professional chefs in Paris, Monsieur Lenotre is painstaking in the detail of his recipes, for he wants the home cook experience his creations at their very best.

Allow plenty of time and patience to create these recipes - the results will be worth it! Here's a sampling: APPLE SOUFFLE WITH APPLE BRANDY Souffle aux Pommes Preparation time: 20 minutes Baking time: 25 minutes Yield: 4 servings or 4 individual souffles 1 cup milk 1 vanilla bean 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour 1 1 tbsp. apple brandy 3 egg yolks 2 apples 3 egg whites 1 1 tbsp. granulated sugar 1 1 tbsp. apple brandy for flaming Batter: Boil all but 3 tbsp. of the milk with the vanilla bean. In a mixing bowl, mix sugar, flour and 3 tbsp. of milk. Then add, stirring with a spatula, half the boiling milk. Mix well. Add remaining boiling milk, beating all the while. Pour back into pot and boil for 2 minutes more.

Away from heat, stir in butter and apple brandy, cover and allow to cool. When batter has cooled but is still warm add egg yolks.

Baking: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Peel and cut apples into very thin slices. Beat egg whites until very stiff. Halfway through, add 1 1 tbsp.

sugar, then fold stiff egg whites into batter prepared earlier. Butter and sugar 7-inch souffle mold. Fill mold with a third of the batter, then place a layer of apples on top of the batter. Add another third of the batter and a layer of apples. Finish filling the mold and place apple slices on top.

Sprinkle surface with confectioners' sugar. Bake souffle at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes.

Just before removing from the oven, heat 1 1 tbsp. of apple brandy in a small saucepan and set alight with match. Pour heated fluid over souffle and serve immediately.

STEWED MUSK MELON OR CANTALOUPE (Compote de Melons Verts) Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Yield: 3 medium-sized melons 1 1 cups granulated sugar 3 tbsp. vinegar Zest of 1 lemon Fruit preparaton: Peel melons with a potato peeler; cut open and remove seeds.

Cut melon into small pieces. Place fruit in a pot with other ingredients and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes or until soft. Pour into a bowl and chill before serving.

ORANGES WITH GRENADINE SYRUP (Oranges a la Grenadine) Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes Resting time: Several hours Yield: 4 servings 4 oranges Scant 1 1 cups Grenadine syrup Fruit preparation: Wash fruit and remove skin of 2 oranges with a vegetables peeler. Cook orange skins in Grenadine syrup for about 30 minutes. Cut off remaining white part of the skin from first two oranges, as well as entire skin from remaining two oranges. Discard skins. Cut out all the orange sections, place them in a pot, and pour the hot Grenadine-orange skin mixture over them. Cook for about 15 minutes. Pour into a bowl and cover. Allow to cool for several hours before serving.

DIAMOND STUDDED CIRCLES (Diamants) It is imporant in this recipe not to work the dough too much; just mix the ingredients rapidly together. This dough can be made one day ahead.

Preparation time: 30 minutes Resting time: 45 minutes Baking time: 13 minutes Yield: 60 pastries Scant 1 cup granulated sugar 3 cup soft butter 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 3 cups flour Pinch of salt 1 egg yolk Broken rock candy (to roll pastries in) Making the Dough: In a mixing bowl beat together at low speed granulated sugar, butter, and vanilla. Then add flour and salt all at once. Beat dough until very smooth -- this step should not take more than 2 minutes. Place dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 equal parts; roll each piece into a 1 1 -inch sausage shape. Refrigerate again for 15 minutes.

Baking: Beat egg yolk. Place broken rock candy on a sheet of paper. Brush each roll of dough with egg yolk, then roll in the rock candy (pressing lightly so that sugar will stick to the dough).

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut each roll of dough into 1 '' slices and place on a lightly buttered or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 400-degree F. oven for about 13 minutes or until a light golden brown.

Note: Granulated sugar can be used instead of broken rock candy.

To Store: These pastries will keep 10 days in a tightly closed container; allow to cool completely before storing.

LITTLE CORNFLOWER COOKIES (Sables Corn Flower) These cookies always delight children. Try and cut the dough into as many amusing shapes as possible.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Resting time: 2 hours minimum Baking time: 25 minutes per sheet Yield: 40 cookies 2 cup confectioners' sugar 1 cup powdered almonds Generous 3 cup butter 2 eggs 1 3 cups flour 1 1 teaspoons vanilla sugar Pinch of salt 1 1 tbsp. water Beaten egg to brush on top Batter: Mix half the confectioners' sugar (1 cup) with powdered almonds. In another bowl, with electric mixer on low speed, mix together butter and remaining sugar. When mixture is smooth, add eggs.

Then add sugar-almond mixture, flour, vanilla sugar, and salt all at once.

Beat well, then add water. Form dough quickly into a ball, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Baking: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough until it is 1 '' thick. Using cookie cutters in the shapes of stars, hearts, animals, etc., cut dough into cookies.

Brush each cookie with a little beaten egg. Place a third of the cookies on a buttered or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes; then turn off the oven and leave cookies inside to bake for 10 minutes more. Bake remaining cookies in the same way.

To Store: These little cookies will keep 10 days in a tightly sealed container.

AUTUMN MERINGUE CAKE (Meringue d'Automne) Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Resting time: 1 hour minimum Yield: 6 servings 3 circles baked French meringue (see recipe below) 2 cups, generous, chocolate mousse (see recipe below) 5 1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate Assembling the Cake: Take half the chocolate mousse and save for coating outside of the cake. Place 1 layer of meringue on top of a 7'' cardboard cake base, and, using spatula, spread a layer of mousse onto the meringue. Place next meringue layer on top, cover with another layer of mousse, repeat with third meringue. Cover top and sides with reserved mousse. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Decorating: Melt chocolate in top of double boiler, then with the putty knife, spread a very thin layer of chocolate onto a baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator. After about 10 minutes, with the putty knife nearly horizontal to the baking sheet, scrape off a band of chocolate. Chocolate should form pleated ribbons 1 1 to 2'' wide. If chocolate is too cold, it will break. In this case, let chocolate stand at room temperature for 5 minutes and try again. If chocolate is not cold enough, it will be too soft and you will not be able to pick it up. In this case, place the chocolate back in the refrigerator and let it harden some more before trying to form the ribbons.

Once you have several bands of chocolate, place them around the sides of the cake, then begin to scrape chocolate to decorate top.

Try to get fan-shaped chocolate ribbons by placing your thumb against one edge of the chocolate ribbons as you scrape.

Form a circle with the least pleated strips of chocolate placed around the rim of the cake, and in the centre place the most fan-shaped strips to form a rose.

FRENCH MERINGUE (Meringue Francaise) Preparation time: 15 minutes Baking time: 1 hour 15 minutes 5 eggs Generous 1 tbsp. granulated sugar 1 cup granulated sugar mixed with scant 1 cup confectioners' sugar Batter: Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees F. Beat egg whites until very stiff.

Halfway though, add the smaller amount of granulated sugar. Sift mixture of granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar together and fold into egg whites.

Baking: Do not let meringue sit -- it tends to fall apart. Fill pastry bag right away with it and squeeze it onto a buttered and floured baking sheet or onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (stick each corner of the paper to the pan with a dab of meringue). (You can bake two sheets at once). Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Meringues should be very light brown and completely dry on both the top and bottom when done. If they brown to quickly, turn the oven down.

Note: When you use leftover egg whites, remember that 5 egg whites 3 cup and 3 egg whites 1 cup.

To Store: Meringues can be kept for 3 weeks in a metal box or a tightly closed container.

HAZLENUT COOKIES (Sables aux Noisettes) Preparation time: 15 minutes Baking time: 8 - 10 minutes Yield: 60 cookies 6 1 tbsp. soft butter Scant 1 cup granulated sugar 3 eggs 1 1 tsp. vanilla sugar 3 cup flour 1 cup powdered hazelnuts 1 cup, scant, coarsely chopped hazelnuts Batter: In top of double boiler, beat softened butter with sugar, then add eggs, one at a time, and finally add vanilla sugar. In a bowl, mix flour with powdered hazelnuts, then add this mixture to above ingredients, working them as little as possible until well mixed.

Baking: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. On a buttered baking sheet, squeeze out batter using a pastry bag. Make small balls as big as a walnut or shape cookies like question marks. Sprinkle each cookie with chopped hazelnuts. Bake 8-10 minutes, turning around baking sheet halfway through to ensure even browning.

Note: Do not crowd cookies. Cook them on two baking sheets if necessary.

To Store: Cookies will keep 10 days stored in tightly sealed container.