Baking

I use a French orange flower water, Vallauris brand, that I brought back from Nice. If your orange flower water is from the Middle East (most often Lebanon) you will need to use more to taste; the Middle Eastern-style is not as strongly flavored as the French version. I also use Athens brand phyllo (it says "fillo" on the box), which comes in a 1-pound container with two separate packages inside. Make sure to use unsalted pistachios. This baklava is actually not at all difficult to make, but take care not to press down on the layers of pastry as you layer and then cut them.

Bread pudding was originally created as a way to use up stale bread. Today, the dessert is a favorite in the U.K. and the U.S. Here, rich brioche is combined with a vanilla custard and pieces of tangy ginger-infused rhubarb.

Legend has it that the Bakewell tart was invented in the 1800s in the village of Bakewell. An inexperienced cook made a mistake when putting together a strawberry tart—and ended up with a pie crust with a layer of preserves on the bottom and a soft, cake-like filling. This version uses raspberry preserves, but strawberry would also be delicious.

This is the quintessential coconut cream pie—it has lots of coconut flavor and a very creamy texture. This is best served on the day it is made so the crust is still crisp, but you can make the pastry cream a day ahead, whisk in the whipped cream a couple of hours before serving, and then put it together at the last minute. Swirl the whipped cream decoratively on top, if you like.

Treacle tarts are usually made with a combination of golden syrup and molasses. The dessert has a texture similar to pecan pie (minus the nuts).

I have never been a huge fan of bread pudding, but for some reason this bread pudding takes the cake, no pun intended. It combines just the right elements of sweet, tart, creamy, and crispy. Everyone who tries it becomes a fan.

In Galicia, empanadas are large enough to serve many people, unlike the individual empanadas of Latin America.

A green salad dressed with tangy red wine vinaigrette is the perfect accompaniment to this rich cheese custard tart from Le Temps des Vendanges.

I have always loved a good, cinnamon-scented carrot cake but somehow found the normal cream cheese frosting too rich and too sweet for the cake. Carrots, after all, are sweet enough in their own right. However, this mascarpone topping—sharp textured with lemon and lime zest—contrasts perfectly with the texture and crunch of the carrots and walnuts. Take the path of least—if not no—resistance.

The crumble is the British version of the American crisp. This one features the classic combination of tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries, topped with a crunchy oat-and-hazelnut streusel. A scoop of ice cream is the perfect finishing touch.

These cozy, warm little desserts are just the sort of thing I like to eat when the weather turns cool. Like most people, I tend to have dessert as an occasional treat, rather than as a regular occurrence; these, however, I find almost impossible to resist. I like to eat them warm and steaming with thick cold cream—and sometimes a spoonful of warm honey, laced with grated lemon and orange zest.

Biscochitos are the best thing to get with your coffee when you eat breakfast at a Mexican bakery. Mi Tierra makes my favorite version of these rich Mexican cookies. Sorry, there is no substitute for the lard—it's the secret ingredient!

Although legend has it that the red velvet cake originated in the early 1900s at New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, it's been a Southern favorite for as long as I can remember. (A friend of mine recently reported seeing a version of it at a Starbucks in Mississippi.) Years ago, I made an armadillo-shaped red velvet cake for a wedding couple, complete with gray cream cheese icing for the animal's shell and scales. The idea may have come from the popular 1989 movie Steel Magnolias, which featured a red velvet armadillo groom's cake, a popular Southern tradition that continues to this day. The inspiration for my red velvet cupcakes came from my high-school boyfriend's grandmother. My mother was quite ill during those years, so I spent a lot of time with Bob Yarborough's family. His Birmingham, Alabama–born grandmother cooked and baked frequently, and I never forgot her red velvet cake. I wrote the instructions in my high-school recipe notebook and used it as a guide for developing these cupcakes. The mint extract and crushed mint candies add bit of holiday flair, but easily can be left out at other times of the year.

These small flatbreads serve the same purpose as bread sticks. They are crisp and flaky, and because of the olive oil (use your finest) and salty edge can easily be addictive. Based on centuries-old tortas de aceite, they are the specialty of young chef Enrique Dacosta, whose restaurant Poblet in Denia, Alicante, is the best regarded in the region. They are great with tapas. Instead of making bread dough for this recipe, I simplify by buying pizza dough from my local pizzeria, and the results are excellent.

Here's a cake that showcases the flavors and smells of Christmas. This three-layer extravaganza has a touch of molasses and shredded apple to keep it moist. As the cake bakes, it fills the house with a fragrance that beats the most expensive holiday-scented candle. Many amateur cooks are intimidated by just thinking about making a cake that doesn't come from a box. Yes, it takes extra time, but it isn't hard. Just follow the steps outlined below. I say, if you want to make an impression, bring on a tall, showy homemade cake. Your friends will be talking about it long after the party is over.

The grandfather of dessert soufflés! When folding the whites into the basic mixture, it is important not to overmix. Overmixing will make the egg whites deflate and you won't get the proper consistency for a light soufflé. (If we repeat ourselves, it's to make an important point.) Finely chopped orange zest can be added for additional flavor. When serving with a sauce, it is best spooned into the soufflé at the table.

Mary made a version of this cake for Baking with Julia, the television series with Julia Child. (The recipe was included in the cookbook based on the series.) It's based on our Chocolate Chiffon Cake, which we spread with filling and then roll, making this the most delectable "jelly" roll you have ever tasted. When the Spago staff sampled the cake, they all came back for second helpings—and they're a tough audience.

I like to use frozen berries for this crumble. Not only can I have it any time of year, but the juices left in the bag after thawing provide sweetness (without adding a lot of sugar) and sauce for the crumble.

Sour-milk cornbread is one of those quintessential foods of the South for which there are hundreds of recipes (and infinite variations). Although we'd never claim to have the "definitive version," Miss Lewis and I worked together on this recipe until we got just what we wanted: an all-cornmeal bread that's light, moist, and rich, full of corn flavor, with the tanginess of sour milk or buttermilk. Like all Southern cornbreads, it has no sugar—that's a Yankee thing. Traditionally, milk that had started to culture was used in cornbread and other baked goods, both for its pleasant sharp taste and for a leavening boost (its acids react with baking soda to generate carbon dioxide). Since modern pasteurized milk doesn't sour nicely—it just goes bad—we use commercial buttermilk here instead. This is a genuine all-purpose cornbread, delicious as a savory bread or even as a dessert, slathered with butter and honey. My mother and grandmother only made this kind of leavened cornbread (which they called "egg bread") for cornbread stuffing, and it does make superb stuffing. It's also delicious in a time-honored Southern snack: cornbread crumbled into a bowl with cold milk or buttermilk poured over. Many Southerners—especially of an older generation—would call that a perfect light supper on a hot summer day, after a big midday meal.