Baking

The most famous of Moroccan pastries are best known abroad by their French name, cornes de gazelle, or gazelle’s horns. They are stuffed with ground almond paste and curved into horn-shaped crescents. They are ubiquitous wedding party fare.

These exquisite pastries called “the bride’s fingers” feature in medieval Arab manuscripts found in Baghdad, fried and sprinkled with syrup and chopped pistachios. In Morocco, they are made with the thin pastry called warka or brick (see page 29) and deep-fried. I prefer to make them with fillo and to bake them. For a large-size version of the pastries, I use a supermarket brand where the sheets are about 12 inches × 7 inches. I especially recommend you try the dainty little “bride’s fingers” (see Variation). I make them for parties and I keep some in a cookie tin to serve with coffee. They are great favorites in our family; my mother always made them and now my children make them, too.

In Morocco, these briwat bil kefta are made with warka (see page 29) and deep-fried, but it is not only much easier to use fillo and to bake them, but the result is very good. See the note on fillo on page 9. I used sheets measuring about 6 inches × 12 inches. It is very good finger food to serve at a party.

Use a soft, fresh-tasting, mild goat cheese for these little pies. Use the fillo in sheets that measure 12 inches × 7 inches, which you can find fresh in some supermarkets, or use the large sheets measuring 19 inches × 12 inches and cut them in half. See the note on fillo on page 9. You can freeze these pies and you can put them straight from the freezer into the oven without thawing, but they will need a little more cooking time. They make elegant and tasty party fare.

Apple Brown Betty is an old-fashioned dessert that looks and tastes as wholesome as can be.

My kids would never eat pies until I began making them with graham cracker crusts. I’ve also lost the taste for pastry crust (who needs all that fat?). The miniature size is perfect for fruit fillings that need not be baked or that wouldn’t hold together in a large crust.

There are no cracks in this New York cheesecake. A water bath is key for gentle heat during the baking process.

You will need a nonstick Bundt pan to make this awesome cake. Store it in an airtight container and you can snack on it for a week.

Cheese for dessert is very European and a nice change from an overly sweet indulgence. This savory dessert puffs up so high it’s gorgeous; make sure folks are around when you take it out of the oven. An after-dinner experience.

The red wine caramel adds a sexy complexity to this classic French staple and the fresh thyme gives it a sweet, earthy depth.

The rosemary adds a sophisticated taste to this old favorite. It’s great in the summertime when blackberries are at their peak.

This indispensable chocolate cake is perfect for every birthday.

Lemon and blueberry are a perfect pair, like Bert and Ernie. You will need a 10 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Serve this year round.

Here is a fantastic coffee cake that tastes like gingerbread: perfect for cold days or nights.

Great for holidays. Even good as a dessert.

Corn pudding is deliciously simple to put together.

This upscale quiche is great for company. Read the section on blind-baking the crust a few times before you get started; it’s the trickiest part (but by no means hard). The only special equipment you’ll need is a 10 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Once you have one of these, you’ll use it for a hundred different things, so it’s a good investment.

These are scones, not stones, the hard, crumbly things you may be used to. Avoid using frozen blueberries because the color bleeds too much into the dough and spoils the look of the scone. This is a side note to all the guys out there. If you bring your woman warm blueberry scones for breakfast in bed, you’ll thank me later.

Being a kid from South Carolina, I always had fresh biscuits growing up. This recipe is as close to my grandmother’s as I could get without having a spiritual adviser. They’re big, fat, and light as a cloud, just like I remember them. The peach and rosemary spoon fruit adds a little contemporary twist.