Baking

"My wife, Jean, and I run a coffee farm on the Big Island of Hawaii," writes George Fike of Keauhou Mauka, Hawaii. "I really love to cook, so we entertain a lot, and I enjoy planning the dinners as much as I do making them. I tell people the best restaurant in town is our house! Since I do most of the cooking, recipes must either be relatively fast or look after themselves." Based on George's mother's recipe, this is an easy, moist, and tender carrot cake with delicate tropical flavors and macadamia nuts. There are a lot of ingredients, but they come together in just minutes.

Candied-Fruit Honey Wafers Dipped in Chocolate You might be tempted to bake 2 sheets of cookies at a time in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Don't give in to this urge — the cookies must go in the middle of the oven to cook through and brown evenly.

This easy-to-make dessert tastes like pumpkin spice cake and apple crisp baked together.

Dark brown sugar gives these buttery treats an extra-rich taste.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Offer these as a starter or as a light lunch with a salad of greens tossed in vinaigrette.

These sweet treats can be made two days in advance. Just store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Ruby Port in the juicy filling deepens the fruit flavors in this crisp. Top with vanilla ice cream or the ice cream from the Malted Milk Ice Cream Cake .

If you can't find matzo cake meal, grind batches of regular matzo meal in a clean electric coffee/spice grinder until it has the consistency of flour.

This makes a rich but surprisingly light, torte. An absolute, worth-the-price-of-the-book winner. Mashed sweet potatoes make a great substitute for the traditional pureed chestnut paste. Chestnut puree is available kosher, but I have never been able to find it "kosher for Passover." It may seem unusual, but I can assure you of two things — it tastes divine and it is easier than buying fresh-in-the-shell chestnuts, roasting, poaching, and grating them to get them ready for this cake. You can also serve this in squares, as French-style "petit fours." The glaze slicks this up but is not necessary—a dusting of cocoa is just fine.