Baking

A butter and molasses glaze gives this delicately flavored loaf a glossy finish, which makes for a beautiful presentation at the table.

White Chocolate Tartlets with Strawberries and Bananas These irresistible sweets feature a hazelnut crust that is lined with dark chocolate and filled with white chocolate mousse.

This is an elegant dessert, light but filled with berry flavor — and it's much easier to make than it looks. The generous crust is made from store-bought shortbread, so rich in butter there's no need to add more. We used Walkers, a pure-butter shortbread from Scotland that's widely available in supermarkets.

"Last spring I went to New Orleans for the Crescent City Classic, an annual road race. One night I had dinner at Andrew Jaeger's House of Seafood in the French Quarter," says Gina Squires of St. Louis, Missouri. "The coconut cream pie was great." A toasted coconut topping adds texture and flavor to this old-fashioned dessert.

This turns a terrific gingerbread—created by Rick Rodgers, an accomplished baker and food writer—into a layer cake. Let the stout stand, opened, at room temperature overnight so that it’s flat when you add it to the batter.

(Baked Sweet Cherry Pudding) Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Here, buttermilk replaces nearly all of the oil. Very ripe bananas give the best flavor.

These crisp, low-fat cookies are just right for dipping into dessert wine or cappuccino.

Canola oil replaces butter in this light version of a classic.

Lots of fun: pizza with flavors reminiscent of the classic Reuben sandwich.

The children of Jean Garry, wife of editor-in-chief William J. Garry, may have left home, but they come back at Christmas for their favorite bread. The recipe was given to Jean by her mother (who isn't Swedish, but never mind). The bread which is lightly flavored with aniseed and orange, makes great toast for stocking-searching time. Sometimes Jean bakes the loaves in nine-inch aluminum pie tins. After they cool, she puts the breads back into the tins and wraps them up in colorful cellophane for gift giving.

This ultra-rich dessert is inspired by the classic Rigó Jancsi cake, named for the legendary Hungarian Gypsy violinist. Make it one day ahead to allow the flavors to meld.

Make this bread, which is used in the Southwest Corn Bread Stuffing with Corn and Green Chilies and Southern Corn Bread Stuffing with Smoked Ham and Yams recipes, at least one day and up to two days ahead of time.