Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, coffee: Everyone has a favorite flavor of ice cream. As a simple treat on a hot summer afternoon or an elegant finish to a special meal, ice cream is a versatile dessert that is delightfully easy to make at home.

Williams-Sonoma Collection Ice Cream offers more than 40 recipes for rich ice creams, tangy sorbets, and flavorful granitas. When delicious combinations of ingredients — fresh cream, fruit at its peak of ripeness, fine-quality chocolate — are combined and frozen in an ice-cream maker, the results are always sublime. From the crunch of ice creams made with candy, cookies, or nuts to those as smooth as caramel, there are plenty of irresistible choices inside these pages. In addition, an entire chapter devoted to more elaborate ice cream dishes will inspire you to use your favorite flavors to make impressive frozen desserts.

Tempting, full-color photographs of each ice cream make it easy to decide which one to prepare, and photographic side notes highlight essential ingredients and techniques, making Ice Cream more than just a fine collection of recipes. A comprehensive basics section and a detailed glossary will also provide you with everything you need to know to make delicious homemade ice cream your new favorite dessert.

From a scoop of creamy, old-fashioned ice cream to a dish of sweet sorbet or a spoonful of rich gelato — iced desserts are a refreshing way to enjoy an infinite array of wonderful, sweet flavors.

Williams-Sonoma Collection Ice Cream offers more than 40 easy-to-follow recipes that allow you to make all-time favorites as well as delicious new flavors. Whether you crave an irresistibly rich chocolate-hazelnut gelato, a light and tangy lemon sorbet, or the best vanilla ice cream you have ever tasted, the recipes inside will inspire you to serve ice cream for any occasion. This vividly photographed, full-color recipe collection promises to become an essential addition to your kitchen bookshelf.

"Once you have sampled the flavors inside, you will realize that homemade ice cream is simply the best there is!"

Three new titles in this growing collection of cookbooks.

Mary Goodbody is a nationally known food writer and cookbook editor based in Connecticut. She has written or contributed to more than 45 books, including Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Companion, The Garden Entertaining Cookbook, and Sunday Dinner. Ms. Goodbody is also editor of the International Association of Culinary Professionals Food Forum Quarterly.