Dairy

These one-ingredient lacy cheese crackers are more impressive than any cheese board.

Roasting the onions and shallots takes this dip way out of the box.

These little showstoppers will incite a fried food frenzy–even though they're baked on party night.

You can reheat this ooey-gooey dip in a skillet, or keep it warm in a fondue pot.

Forget the boxed version you grew up with. This yellow cake gets a rich dark-chocolate frosting with a touch of tang thanks to sour cream. For the best presentation, it's important to cut the cake layers evenly.

The secret to making grilled cheese for a crowd? Turn on the oven (the standard skillet method is too labor-intensive). Encourage guests to customize their sandwiches with the cheeses, breads, and fixings you've set out. Then simply pop them on a baking sheet and cook.

Our dad makes these every year on Hanukkah. And he makes a huge mess. He puts newspapers on the floor, uses every burner, and the whole house smells bad for a week. But they are super delicious and we had to include them in our book. We make them almost every weekend. We had our dad test the recipe.

Grilled meatballs, grilled bread, and a peppery arugula-walnut pesto make this sandwich one to remember.

Editor's note: This recipe is part of a special Thanksgiving menu created by chefs Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing of MiLa restaurant in New Orleans. Pecan pralines are one of the most celebrated candies of the South. They are made with pecans, sugar, and cream, which results in a unique crystallized and cloudy caramel that melts in your mouth. The European praline, however, is made simply with sugar and nuts, which results in a shiny hard-crack bitter-and-sweet candy. This Italian-style semifreddo (half frozen) uses the latter, which holds up well when frozen. However, we still use cream, but in a soft, fluffy base that cradles the crispy praline.

The pan-fried pizza move comes in handy during the summer when you don't want to turn the oven to 500°F.

This is my go-to pizza. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, but I need the best of the best ingredients on this kind of pie. A good dough, a great sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil are really where it's at.

What could possibly be better than a strawberry milkshake? A strawberry cheesecake milkshake! The cream cheese, which has a tang of its own that's enhanced by the lemon zest, helps make this milkshake as thick as, well, concrete (the very apt Missouri term for a milkshake).
If the idea of frozen strawberries hits you as totally counter to your locavore sensibilities, know that they are another secret to a milkshake thick enough to eat with a spoon, and if you grow your own or buy them at the farmers' market, we urge you to freeze them for this shake. You'll find the directions in the Cooks' Notes at the end of the recipe. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Burger Bash. Menu also includes Bacon-Cheddar Burgers with Caramelized Onions and Homemade French Fries with Five Dipping Sauces.

Ditch the store-bought seasoning packet in favor of this DIY version that combines slowly caramelized onions with tangy sour cream.

Filled with spices, buttermilk, and jam, this moist cake has been in the baking repertoire of my husband's family for over a century. Although this particular recipe hails from Bowling Green, Kentucky, I found many other recipes for jam cake that originated further south. At first glance, I mistakenly thought the jam was merely a filling between the cake layers but to my happy surprise, the jam is actually an ingredient in the batter, creating a lovely berry hue to the cake and an even better berry taste. This down-home cake traditionally calls for a sweet caramel frosting, but I opted for a decadent caramel chocolate ganache. Make the ganache before you make the cake as it needs about 3 hours to firm up at room temperature (and is so much better when not refrigerated).

This is a Baker & Spice original and it's our most popular cake—loved by men and women alike! The buttercream frosting is tinted pink by a raspberry puree (not food coloring)—be sure to save your extra whites from baking the cake to make the frosting. The cake itself is a rich, moist chocolate cake. If you want a go-to recipe for all your chocolate cake cravings, this is the one.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other dessert classics, check out the videos.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Italian classics, check out the videos.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Italian classics, check out the videos.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Italian classics, check out the videos.