Baking

Velvety frosting and tender cake make this dessert rich and indulgent enough for any special occasion, any time of year.

As these little chocolate-dipped cookies bake, they fall and spread somewhat, so they won't be as tall as when first piped onto the baking sheets.

Brandysnaps are popular in Scotland, and lemon curd is a British fixture. Here is a double treat of lemon curd: Some goes into the ice cream; the rest is offered as a sauce.

France's classic layered dessert of puff pastry, pastry cream and icing fell out of favor for a while, but it recently experienced a revival. This contemporary version features phyllo instead of puff pastry, an espresso-flavored pastry cream and bananas, which were used in many treats in 1997.

(Onion, Anchovy, and Olive Tarts)

You might wonder why we freeze the chocolate filling for these charlottes before baking them. The coldness prevents the chocolate from overcooking in the oven.

Adapted from Pierre Gagnaire The French, who invented soufflés, understand that the whole point is that everything that rises falls. Soufflés should not be overcooked; they should be slightly creamy in the middle.

This takeoff on key lime pie, made with lemons and a vanilla cookie crust, is deliciously tangy and refreshing. In the nineteenth century, fresh milk would not keep long without refrigeration, so Florida cooks used sweetened condensed milk in their key lime pies.

Pay de Limón At our cooking classes in Oaxaca, I guide our students through the markets, buying tastes of the thick cream (it's like milky butter with a cheesey flavor and unctuous texture), the perfumey, greenish-yellow key limes and exotic tropical fruit like guanabana, chirimoya, guava, black zapote and papaya. In order to offer more than a simple taste of these traditional foods after one trip to the market, I combined that incredible cream and lime into a simple pie for our class meal, serving it with an assortment of pureed fruits. Even with our American homemade cream (or crème fraîche) and less-tart hybrid Persian limes, the pie makes a lovely special-dinner finale.

(Tarte aux Pommes a la Compote)

The recipe makes about 36 truffles; 12 are used for the tartlets. The extras can be kept frozen for other special occasions. Start this recipe the day before serving the tartlets.

Salt and pepper are predominant flavors in these sophisticated cookies (they're too spicy for children). Try pairing them with a tangy sorbet.