SUMMERTIME DOESN'T ALWAYS show San Francisco at its best. At most there are a few days of baking heat, the kind that sends everyone actually into the water at Baker Beach during the day and into the streets after dark, searching for backyard bars with sangria and picnic tables. Then, of course, the fog returns, lingering till mid morning and blowing back through the Haight in mid afternoon.

But head inland north, south, or west and you'll quickly find a long hot summer and the plentiful farms and orchards that turn those scorching hours into ripe-to-bursting corn, peaches, and tomatoes. And now there's a new place to reap that bounty: the Saturday-morning farmers' market at Fillmore and Eddy Streets. Opened with coffee, muffins, and a speech by the mayor July 12, the new market is planned to run every Saturday morning through the third week of November. So now, with the Alemany market to the southeast, the Ferry Plaza market at the foot of Market Street, and the Fillmore-Eddy market in the middle, the city is draped like an orchard in velvet-skinned apricots and golden pink plums.

Just in time, then, comes David Lebovitz's second cookbook, Ripe for Dessert (Harper Collins, $34.95). Lebovitz, who learned his craft during a dozen years at Chez Panisse, has an enthusiasm for his subject that bounces right off the page. Something about baking – its dependence on chemistry and precision, its requirement of faith – saps the humor right out of most pastry chefs' prose. Lebovitz, however, clearly loves every aspect of messing around in the kitchen, from sniffing the ripest fruit at the market to serving up "the absolutely best brownies" to friends. His book reads not like Martha Stewart pummeling invisible guests with relentless perfection but like a fun San Francisco guy who knows that a huge pan of peach crisp makes every party better. Personally, any author who can describe a pineapple custard as "flantastic" – or dubs a tropical ice cream-and-meringue dish a baked Hawaii (and then adds instructions on how to turn it into a flaming volcano) – is one I'd like to have in my kitchen.

In an e-mail from Paris (where he has been living for the past couple of years), Lebovitz describes his inspiration simply: "I love fruit! And most of the fruit books were either for fancy fruit tarts, or more complex desserts. A great thing about fruit is that you don't have to do that much to it when you start with awesome fruits. Simply presented, fresh fruit desserts make something that is often thought of as decadent into something that is actually good for you!"

A big bowl, a knife, a whisk, and a wooden spoon will get you through most of the recipes in the book; a cherry pitter and an ice-cream maker will get you through the rest. Instead of heavy glazes and fussy presentations, there are juicy blackberry turnovers, strawberries dunked in red-wine syrup, and a truly party-fabulous fresh lime margarita sorbet.

Of course, a man who leads chocolate tours of Paris isn't strictly Mr. Health Food. His favorite recipe in the book? "I must say, I make the Absolutely Best Brownies with Dried Sour Cherries over and over. That is truly the best recipe for brownies ever! And the Peach and Amaretti Crisp is truly great, with the subtle favor of almondy cookies and ripe, juicy summer peaches." So hit the markets and get baking. The time's ripe.

Peach-amaretti crisp

8 peaches (about 3 lbs), pitted and sliced

2 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs flour

1 tsp vanilla extract, or 1/2 tsp almond extract

¾ cup flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

¾ cup crushed amaretti cookies (about 16 cookies)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup almonds, toasted

8 Tbs butter (1 stick), cut into small pieces and chilled

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix peach slices with the two tablespoons of sugar, the flour, and the vanilla or almond extract. Spread fruit in a shallow two-quart baking dish. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugars, amaretti, and cinnamon until amaretti are in very small bits. Add almonds and pulse until nuts are in small pieces. Add butter and pulse until butter is finely broken up. Continue to pulse until mixture no longer looks sandy and is beginning to hold together. Distribute topping evenly over peaches and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the edges are bubbling and a knife inserted into the center pierces the fruit easily. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or a cold pitcher of heavy cream.