Americans have enjoyed a long love affair with their gas and charcoal grills; according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, 89 percent of today's families with four or more members own at least one grill or smoker. And no holiday is more popular for grilling than the Fourth of July, when a whopping 69 percent of us have a cookout.

Even so, we don't automatically think of our grills when it comes to dessert.

Grilling fruit, though, is one of this season's hottest trends, with all manner of recipes popping up in this year's stacks of new grilling cookbooks. Andrea Chesman's "The New Vegetarian Grill" (Harvard Common, $16.95), for instance, devotes an entire chapter to grilled fruit and desserts; its 20 recipes cover the gamut from a foil-wrapped apple brown Betty to angel food cake and pineapple pina colada kabobs and grilled pears with chocolate sauce.

Not surprisingly, local restaurants have followed suit, serving grilled fruit as an accompaniment to the main dish. The coconut shrimp at Seviche in the Pittsburgh Cultural District and the Chilean salmon at Redfin Blues on Washington's Landing are both served with grilled pineapple. In South Park, Gil's Cafe uses grilled apples in an apple cider salmon sandwich.

Chef Douglass Dick of Bona Terra in Sharpsburg was ahead of the curve: He's been serving grilled fruit since the restaurant opened five years ago. Two favorites are peaches, which are served with a seared scallop appetizer, and mangos, which he pairs with seared rare tuna.

"It makes it a little more eye appealing," he says. "And you get that nice smoky flavor that brings out the natural sugars of the fruit."

Grilling dessert is a sweet idea: Not only does it keep you out of a hot kitchen, but it also provides a healthful, low-fat alternative to typical fat-laden desserts. A 1/2-inch-thick slice of pineapple sprinkled with a teaspoon of brown sugar and then grilled until brown on both sides has just 71 calories.

Pineapple is probably the most popular fruit to grill. But almost any fresh, ripe fruit will work, including apples, apricots, peaches, nectarines, oranges, pears, mangos and figs. Just be sure to brush a little cooking oil on the grates to keep the fruit from sticking and remove it from the heat as soon as it's tender. Softer fruits, such as peaches and plums, will need to be only heated rather than cooked. And keep the pieces large so they don't fall through the grates.

Or thread them onto a skewer. "Green Black Red: Recipes for Cooking and Enjoying California Grapes" by Susan Volland (Chronicle, $16.95) gives a recipe for grilled antipasto skewers that includes threading bamboo skewers with grapes of all three colors.

And if your favorite fruit is out of season? You can even grill canned fruits, says Andrew Schloss, co-author of "Mastering the Grill" (Chronicle, 2007) and spokesman for the Canned Food Alliance, which is based in Pittsburgh.

Purists might turn their noses up at something that comes from a can. But if your favorite fruit isn't ripe, a canned version is preferable. A peach that's still hard, for example, not only won't have a lot of flavor but will lack the moisture to cook properly on a grill.

Another advantage of canned fruit, which is basically poached, says Mr. Schloss, is that it always will cook through because it's already softened. Just be sure to drain it well and blot off any surface moisture, dab it with a little cooking oil and grill it over a high heat to get that nice brown surface.

"People tend to associate grilled flavor with meat, but when it's applied to fruit, it completely transforms it," he says. "It blows the mind."

MAPLE-GRILLED POUND CAKE WITH PEACHES AND BLACKBERRIES

PG tested

Who doesn't love pound cake, especially when it's served with ice cream? The light maple glaze in this recipe gives the cake an appealing crust and enhances the natural sweetness of the peaches. Just be sure to choose a pound cake that's fairly dense so it won't crumble on the grill.

-- Gretchen McKay

• 8 firm ripe peaches or 16 canned peach halves
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, or more to taste
• 8-inch loaf pound cake, homemade or store-bought, sliced 1-inch thick
• 6 ounces fresh blackberries (about 1 cup)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
• Vanilla ice cream

If you are using fresh peaches, dip them into boiling water for about 30 seconds to loosen their skins. With a sharp paring knife, pull away the skin and discard. Halve and pit each peach. If you are using canned peaches, drain well.

Prepare medium fire in grill.

Combine the orange juice, butter and maple syrup and mix well. Brush onto the peaches and both sides of the cake slices. Combine blackberries and sugar in a large bowl. Crush berries slightly with a fork, and then stir until mixed. Set aside.

Grill the peaches and cake slices until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side for the peaches and about 3 minutes per side for the cake.

Place a slice of cake and 2 peach halves on each plate. Drizzle additional maple syrup over the cake and peaches, if desired, and top with a spoonful of sugared blackberries. Serve at once with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Serves 8.

-- Adapted from "The New Vegetarian Grill" by Andrea Chesman (Harvard Common, $16.95)

CARAMELIZED FRUIT KEBABS

Want a dessert that looks just as fabulous as it tastes? Try these sugar-coated fruit kebabs. They can be served with sponge cake or scoops of your favorite ice cream. Any combination of your favorite firm fruit -- bananas, kiwifruit, pineapple, peaches, strawberries, or nectarines -- will do.

-- Gretchen McKay

• Firm fruit
• Bamboo skewers, soaked in cold water for at least 30 minutes
• Cointreau liqueur or a liqueur or spirit of your choice
• Confectioners' sugar

Prepare fruit by peeling, hulling or seeding as appropriate, then cut into small chunks. Thread fruit onto skewers, placing them on a plate as they are done. Sprinkle a little liqueur over kebabs and let macerate for 10 minutes, turning from time to time. Sift a little confectioners' sugar onto a plate.

Heat the grill to medium-high. When ready to cook the fruit, quickly pass kebabs through the sugar, then put them on the hot grill. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until the sugar is slightly caramelized. Serve immediately.

Allow 3 skewers per person.

-- "Sizzle: Sensational Barbecue Food" by Julie Biuso (Julie Biuso Publications, $19.95)

GRILLED PEARS WITH VANILLA HONEY

• 1 can pear halves in juice, drained
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat grill for high, direct heat.

Blot extra moisture from surface of pears with paper towel and coat with oil. Mix honey and vanilla and set aside.

Clean and oil grill grate and grill pears on both sides until grill-marked golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Serve drizzled with vanilla honey.

Serves 3 to 4.

-- Mealtime.org

GRILLED BANANA SUNDAE

PG TESTED

Low in saturated fat and high in fiber and potassium, bananas are naturally sweet. Grilling them will soften the fruit and help release even more of their sugary, tropical flavor.

-- Gretchen McKay

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 firm bananas, peeled
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• Vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces

In a small saucepan, combine 2 tablespoons butter, brown sugar, vanilla and water. Bring to a boil, stir to dissolve sugar and let cook at a full boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool. (If the mixture is too thin when cool, simply return to heat and boil for another 30 to 60 seconds.)

Brush bananas with melted butter and place on a very hot grill. While the bananas are grilling, turn them periodically with a pair of tongs and brush with some of the brown sugar mixture. The bananas will take only a few minutes to heat through. If they are very ripe, they will cook very quickly.

Remove the bananas from heat and cut each banana into 3 pieces on the bias. Scoop ice cream into bowls. Top each with 3 pieces of banana. Spoon warmed brown sugar mixture over the top. Finish with a sprinkle of pecans.

Serves 4.

-- Del Monte (fruits.com)

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SPICE-GRILLED PINEAPPLE

PG TESTED

This extra-easy grilled dessert, which is served aflame, can't help but wow your guests. If you're not crazy about setting something deliberately on fire, serve it instead with a scoop of orange or lime sherbet.

-- Gretchen McKay

• 1 ripe pineapple
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup dark rum (optional), for flambeing

Cut the leafy top off the pineapple, then cut off the rind. Slice the fruit into 8 or 10 even rounds. Using a pineapple corer or paring knife, remove the core from each round.

Place the sugar in a shallow bowl and stir in the lime zest, cinnamon and cloves.

Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high heat.

When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Brush each slice of pineapple on both sides with the melted butter. Dip the pineapple in the sugar mixture, shaking off the excess. Arrange the pineapple slices on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until browned and sizzling, 4 to 6 minutes per side.

Transfer the pineapple to plates or platter, arranging the slices in an overlapping fashion. If using the rum, warm it in a small flameproof saucepan on one side of the grill; do not let it boil. Remove the rum from the heat and then, working very carefully, light a long match and use it to ignite the rum. Carefully pour the flaming rum over the pineapple and serve at once.

Serves 8 to 10.

-- "The Barbecue! Bible" by Steven Raichlen (newly out in a 10th-anniversary edition, Workman, $35)

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HONEY AND LEMON GRILLED CALIFORNIA NECTARINES

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch cinnamon
• 2 ripe fresh California nectarines, cut into 8 wedges each
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 4 small scoops vanilla ice cream
• Fresh mint sprigs to garnish

Prepare grill for medium-high heat.

Stir together honey, lemon juice and cinnamon in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool until warm.

Brush nectarine wedges lightly with butter. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes on each side to lightly char. Remove from grill and carefully stir into warm honey and lemon mixture. Spoon over ice cream and garnish with mint sprigs.

Serves 4.

-- Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (hpba.org)

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GRILLED PEARS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE AND NUTS

This dessert is a little on the rich side but incredibly simple to throw together. An added plus: your kids won't even realize they're eating fruit.

-- Gretchen McKay

• 2 ounces unsweetened semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico or amaretto or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 firm, ripe pears, halved lengthwise and cored
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts, almond slivers, walnuts or pecans

For chocolate sauce: Melt chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler over simmer water. Stir in the brown sugar. Add the half-and-half and cook until the mixture is blended and smooth. Stir in the liqueur or vanilla. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Prepare a medium-low fire in the grill.

Grill the pears, cut side down, until tender and grill-marked, about 10 minutes.

To serve, place the pears cut side up on dessert plates. Spoon the chocolate sauce over the fruit and sprinkle the nuts on top.

Serves 4 to 8.

-- "The New Vegetarian Grill" by Andrea Chesman (Harvard Common Press, $16.95)