5 Ingredients or Fewer

A very simple-to-make tart-sweet syrup, this sauce is accented with freshly grated lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice for a bright flavor. It’s perfect for a wintry fruit salad when the fruit is less than in season, or drizzled on top of pound cake. Make sure your lemons are at room temperature to get the maximum amount of juice out of them.

This syrup is excellent on Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes (page 121) or other berry pancakes. It’s also good with waffles, French toast, and johnnycakes.Try this recipe with blackberries or another favorite berry, or a mixture of berries. Boysenberries are great and can usually be bought frozen (but rarely fresh). Red currants are sour and add a real zing to maple syrup. You can do this with any berry you like. Blueberry syrup can be made well in advance and stored for two weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Be sure to reheat it over low heat before serving, because it tastes best hot or warm.

This naturally sweet fruit topping is very good on oatmeal, pancakes, or French toast. Be sure the banana you use is nice and ripe.

You’ll use this syrup in many different ways—it’s essential in many drinks. It may be prepared a week in advance, but it should be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

Use any tart apple for this sauce. I personally like Braeburns, Mutsus, or Jonagolds. In a pinch, use Granny Smiths. It’s up to you whether to serve this warm or chilled. Excellent with Potato Pancakes (page 213), it is also called for in the Whole Grain Apple Waffle recipe (page 137), among others. This will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator.

This versatile fruit sauce is excellent with both Pumpkin Waffles (page 138) and Buttermilk Waffles (page 135). Try stirring it into yogurt, spooning it on top of ice cream, or serving it as you would a fruit cup. Bosc pears work the best here because they are juicy, yet they hold their shape. Use a softer pear and you may wind up with pear sauce, which certainly tastes good, but it isn’t as visually appealing as this raisin-flecked chunky compote. If storing for later use, cool the compote completely before covering it with a lid or plastic wrap. This will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week. If the compote is cool, reheat it over low heat to serve hot. Or you can serve it chilled or at room temperature.

A luxurious spread for bagels that is so much better than ordinary cream cheese, this will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. For best results, remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator about an hour or so before you plan to use it, so it will soften.

This sauce complements many recipes in the book. It’s wonderful with pancakes and waffles and is almost a requirement with Mom’s Blintzes (page 146). You can substitute blueberries, strawberries, or just about any berry for the blackberries with excellent results. Be sure to use freshly squeezed orange juice. Alternatively, especially if you make this with other berries, lemon juice is a good substitute for the orange juice. You can even try it with grapefruit juice. The compote can be made a couple of days in advance, if you like, cooled, and stored in the refrigerator in a container with a lid. Before serving, heat the compote over low heat until it is very hot.

Use this sweet spiced butter for the most amazing cinnamon toast. After you toast the bread of your choice, spread on some cinnamon butter and stick it under the broiler for a few seconds to melt. Store the cinnamon sugar butter in the refrigerator for a week or freeze it for several weeks.

Orange butter enhances the flavor of many dishes, from pancakes, waffles, and quick breads to savory roasted chicken, pork, or fish. It takes minutes to make this compound butter, but plan to make it at least thirty minutes in advance so the orange juice reduction has time to cool. Be sure your butter is still a little firm, but not so firm that it won’t whip in the mixer. To accomplish this, let the butter sit out at room temperature for a half hour to an hour.

Use grade A maple syrup to make this delicious butter, which is wonderful on toast or pancakes. You can prepare it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for three to four days.

This butter is delicious with eggs, seared fish, steaks, pork chops, chicken, or to spread on savory muffins or scones. When making it, it is important that the butter is still a little firm, but not so cold that it won’t whip in the mixer. Take the butter out of the refrigerator a half hour to an hour before making the compound. For best results, don’t freeze this butter.

You can substitute another coffee-flavored liqueur for the Kahlúa and, of course, increase or decrease the amount of liqueur, depending upon your taste.

A delicious way to end the meal, especially in cold weather, this drink is better than dessert. Feel free to multiply the recipe for a large group.

Remember that great Irish coffee starts with excellent brewed coffee.

Make this when you have invited serious chocoholics to brunch, and keep in mind that the finest hot chocolate starts with the best possible unsweetened chocolate. I use Callebaut or Scharffen Berger. Sweetened condensed milk is a mixture of sugar and whole milk, and it serves here to both thicken and sweeten.

Fresh cranberry juice is worth learning to make for its vibrant flavor and color. We use frozen berries most of the year, and they actually make a more consistent juice than fresh, which are available only six or eight weeks of the year. A pound of frozen or fresh cranberries should give you about 2 cups juice. It is important to strain the juice through a very fine sieve. We use a fine chinois, also known as a China cap, to strain our juice. A chinois is actually a conical sieve with a very fine mesh. Use a spoon or even a pestle to press the juice through the chinois.

This side dish is a great accompaniment to Bubby’s Granola (page 206), Crunchy French Toast (page 133), or, even simpler, seven-grain toast and jam. Try to buy Greek yogurt, which tastes richer and creamier than regular yogurt.

You can use honeydew, cantaloupe, or any other firm-fleshed melon for this light and luscious brunch dish. The important thing is that your melon be perfectly ripe and juicy, so sniff, pinch, and choose carefully. Make this a couple of hours in advance, so it has time to macerate in the port.

This is a great fruit dish in the autumn, when the apples and pears are at their peak. Make it a few hours ahead of time, if you like, and leave it at room temperature until ready to serve. You may want to heat it briefly in a 300°F oven before serving. Choose a tart apple, such as Granny Smith, or any good local apple. This could be served as a side dish, as a starter, or even as dessert!