"Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake" by Elizabeth Falkner with Ann Krueger Spivack, Ten Speed, $35.

Master pastry chef Elizabeth Falkner's hair should be the inspiration for your desserts: simple but striking.

Her half-inch platinum blond crew cut has a prominent place in her book, "Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts: Recipes From Citizen Cake." Spiky-haired caricatures of Falkner are featured throughout.

Falkner came to fame as the owner of San Francisco's popular Citizen Cake and Citizen Cupcake, and as a recipient of Bon Appetit magazine's Pastry Chef of the Year award.

The caricatures throughout the book illustrate how busy cooks can "construct" desserts of layers of dynamic colors, textures and unexpected flavor combinations to make dazzling presentations that don't necessarily take much time or effort. That's why this cookbook is one of my favorite dessert guides of all time.

Sure, there are recipes that will make you feel like you have just taken Pastry Chef 101. But for many of these recipes, Falkner gives not only a fully finished product, but also a minimalist, easier version. She also breaks down instructions into parts that can be prepared in advance.

Many recipes, as well as the book's overall philosophy, paint a much simpler picture of how to prepare pastry chef-quality homemade desserts by learning how to mix and match ingredients and create "floors" in the dessert, which is like a building.

In fact, just flipping through the gorgeous full-page photographs by Frankie Frankeny is almost a sure way to give even the most unimaginative cooks ideas. Here are some possibilities:

A Lovelova (Persian Strawberry and Saffron Pavlova) is a meringue boat topped with bright red strawberries that have been tossed with fresh orange juice, rose water and a quarter-teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. They are crowned with whipped cream that's been mixed with dried cardamom.

Rocky Road Cupcakes are born when store-bought or homemade chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting are topped with mini-marshmallows and chopped walnuts and drizzled with store-bought or homemade hot fudge sauce just before serving. In clear water glasses, drop a tablespoonful of pomegranate seeds. Spoon a large scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream, a half teaspoon of honey, a teaspoon of caramel sauce and four or five chunks of peeled Granny Smith apples you have heated in a small amount of water in the microwave until just soft. Finish with a small handful of cold blue cheese crumbles rolled in tiny amounts of freshly ground black pepper, kosher salt, powdered sugar and chopped currants.

LOVELOVA (PERSIAN STRAWBERRY AND SAFFRON PAVLOVA) Saffron meringues:

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 large egg whites

Pinch of kosher salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Rose-water berries:

2 cups (about 12 ounces) strawberries

2 teaspoons rose water

2 teaspoons fresh orange juice

2 cranks on a pepper mill of black pepper

To serve:

Cardamom Whipped Cream (see accompanying recipe) or store-bought or homemade whipped cream mixed with 1 1/4 teaspoon dried cardamom

2 tablespoons pistachio oil or extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup (about 1 ounce) shelled pistachio nuts

1/2 cup organic edible flowers, cut into narrow ribbons (optional)

Yields 4 servings.

To prepare saffron meringues: Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine saffron threads and vinegar. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, sift together granulated and powdered sugars. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using stand mixer fitted with whip attachment or a hand-held mixer, beat together egg whites and salt on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until soft peaks form. Gradually add combined sugars while continuing to whip until all sugar has been added. Switch to high speed and whip for 3 to 5 minutes, or until stiff peaks form and mixture is glossy.

Using spatula, fold cornstarch and then saffron-vinegar mixture into egg whites. Spoon meringue onto prepared pan forming four well-spaced ovals each 5 to 6 inches long.

Lower oven temperature to 250 F. Bake meringues for 1 hour. Turn off oven, and, without opening the door, allow meringues to dry for 1 hour. (It's fine if they sit in the turned-off oven for up to 2 hours.) The meringues should be pale gold, not brown, and lightly crisp on the outside.

To prepare rose-water berries: Hull strawberries and slice. In bowl, toss berries with rose water, orange juice and pepper.

To serve: Place saffron meringue on each plate. Spoon some Cardamom Whipped Cream on top of each meringue. Spoon on berries. Drizzle pistachio oil or olive oil around edge of plate. Sprinkle plate with pistachio nuts and garnish with edible flowers, if using.

CARDAMOM WHIPPED CREAM

3 to 4 whole cardamom pods

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream

Yields 4 servings.

In a mortar, lightly crush cardamom pods with a pestle and pull away green-brown, papery husk. Crush seeds and measure out 1/4 teaspoon. If you don't have mortar and pestle, wrap cardamom pods in plastic wrap and crush them lightly with a rolling pin, then discard pods and lightly crush seeds.

In a bowl, using a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment or a hand-held mixer, beat together cream and creme fraiche or sour cream on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft peaks form. Gently fold in cardamom. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Use in any dessert in place of whipped cream.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.