Baking

To me, apple muffins that offer up a mouthful of mealy mashed apple chunks are a personal affront. Fortunately, such abominations are easily avoided, a simple matter of proper fruit selection. Forget for a minute your preferences when choosing an apple to eat out of hand (I’m talking to you, Red Delicious loyalists). For this recipe, you can’t go wrong with tart, substantial Granny Smiths, especially when they’ve been roasted to caramelized perfection. If you prefer something sweeter, go halfsies with Granny Smith and either Pink Lady or Fuji, both of which deliver a fragrant bonus and add a depth of flavor even the ordinarily oblivious will notice.

These elegant nuts are a great accent to summer fruits. If you can find the longer, thinner pistachios from Sicily, use them for this recipe—or any time you’re eating pistachios. They have the best flavor.

I often put these nuts under ice cream, but they make a great bar snack, too.

This recipe makes more than you will need for the Rhubarb-Flan Tarts on page 40, but you can use it for any fruit cobbler or crisp or crumble. I love those kinds of desserts.

When I was a young cook, every restaurant I worked in used a tuile to present ice cream. The tuiles kept the ice cream from sliding around on the plate; but while they were pretty, they didn’t impart any flavor. So I started making crumbles and streusels to set underneath ice creams. They have the added bonus of reinforcing flavors and adding texture. I lay quenelles of ice cream on a pile of these intense chocolate crumbs, but you could easily sprinkle the crumble over a scoop of ice cream.

This riff on Crispy Almond Phyllo (page 211)—caramelized with confectioners’ sugar and with peanuts as the nut flavor—is a great example of how versatile this technique of layering phyllo and nuts is. These crisps have a great nutty flavor and crunchy texture to pair with something soft or creamy.

I love the texture that shatteringly crisp phyllo—brushed with butter and sprinkled with almond flour—adds to desserts. You can easily manipulate the flavors by using different nut flours or even instant espresso powder or dried coconut between the layers.

Meringues are a staple in the pastry kitchen because they can carry so many different flavors. Here, cocoa powder and cacao nibs are combined to create tremendous chocolate flavor.

Try making this sweet, delicate cookie with any nut. It’s a terrific garnish for ice creams or chocolate desserts.

I love the flavor of graham crackers, but I have always thought the crackers are too thick. So I grind them, rebind them, and make them thin and very crisp.

One of the most important things I learned from Thomas Haas when I worked with him at Daniel was the significance of texture in desserts. I also learned this recipe from him. This tuile is super-crispy. The sesame seeds toast as the tuile bakes, which brings out their nuttiness, and the sugar caramelizes, bringing in a slightly bitter edge.

This is the most visual of all my tuiles, shimmering and translucent. The sugars lend texture as well as carry the delicate flavor of the flax seeds.

This crisp, sweet almond cookie looks beautiful and has tremendous flavor and a perfect layering texture. What’s great about the batter is that you can freeze it or keep it in the refrigerator and just pull it out when you’re ready to bake.

The high fat content in this dough makes for very rich cookies. It’s great when you want to add crunch to a creamy dessert like panna cotta. Or you might break the cookies into pieces and make a parfait with fruit and whipped cream. I make these as round cookies, too, brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with sugar and coarse salt before baking. Follow the method below, using a round cutter; don’t weight round cookies with a Silpat.

Graham cracker crusts are never crispy enough for me, and I’m not a fan of soggy crusts. I developed this crunchy cookie to serve as a bed for my Key Lime Parfait (page 26). It will garnish any ice cream, and it could be the start of a terrific s’more. Because it’s not overly sweet, you could also serve it with cheese.

This cookie, called sablé Breton, is a classic French recipe from Brittany. I’ve learned many versions, and this is my favorite. I love the sandy texture, something between a crisp cookie and a sponge. The dough is also a great foil for different spices and salts.

I love this cookie for its buttery, fragile tenderness, but I also like to make crumbs from it because they’re such a great texture in a layered dessert (like the Rose Oeufs à la Neige on page 134). The cookies are best served the day they’re baked. I’ve written the recipe so you freeze half the dough and have it waiting for another day.

This bread is a staple in the pastry kitchen and it has many uses—from French toast to croutons. The direct mixing method and overnight rise is a technique I picked up over the years. Brioche freezes beautifully.

This bread gets put to so many uses in my kitchen, from pressed sandwiches to croutons (which could go on a cool sundae). You could use it for French toast or as the base of a chocolate bread pudding. Or just slather it with butter and jam for breakfast. I recommend keeping some of this bread on hand in the freezer.

One of the first things I learned to make at Restaurant Daniel was a madeleine, and I fell for the buttery, citrusy flavor. I wanted to find a way to use the little cake as part of a plated dessert, without making the classic seashell form. So I worked on the recipe, adapting it until I captured the texture and flavor of a fresh-baked madeleine in a sponge cake baked in a sheet pan.