CAJUN DESSERTS, WARM FROM THE OVEN The people of south Louisiana are very frugal. They waste nothing. Day-old bread is used to make bread pudding. Leftover rice is the basis for rice pudding or calas (rice cakes). And the ingredients for most of local desserts are simple---milk, eggs, butter and pecans, and sometimes pure cane syrup. Whenever my mother put up fig preserves, she always made sure she set aside a couple of jars with which to make fig cake during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Just about everyone had a stash of pecans with which to make pecan pie, pralines and gateau de sirop (syrup cake). My Aunt Grace traditionally made several apple cakes, spiced with cinnamon, to give as Christmas gifts or to enjoy after supper with a glass of ice cold milk or steaming tea or coffee. Treat your family and friends, warm up the kitchen and enjoy some of these simple but delicious desserts during the fall.