Baking

Instead of using a pastry bag to pipe the meringue for the baskets, just snip a corner off a resealable plastic bag. Begin preparing this one day ahead.

For another food editor 'tis the season to make shortbread. She adapted the following recipe from Richard Sax's Cookie Lover's Cookie Book. These cookies are out of this world.

Half of one of these loaves is enough for the croutons for the White Bean and Ham Hock Soup with Arugula.

This is the first published recipe for Girl Scout cookies. It was printed in July, 1922.

At one time, musicians who entertained in Catalan countryside were paid with dried fruit and nuts. This came to be known as the "musician's dessert," which is still served to this day. Many places have updated the custom by turning the "pay" into a tart. Here's a rendition, with a rich caramel topping and sweet crust.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or crème fraîche, or with slices of aged kefalotyri cheese or white cheddar.

Meriel MacDonald of London, England, writes: "Having grown up at Kinloch Lodge, my family's hotel on the Isle of Skye, I truly understand what it means to be too busy to cook. There were always guests to attend to, telephones ringing, and other interruptions. Still, my mother found the time to cook while overseeing the hotel's day-to-day business. Today, she continues to run Kinloch Lodge, and over the years she has shared with me many of her recipes and cooking tips, which have helped me in my job as catering manager for a large advertising agency. For work events, I often rely on family recipes, because they're dependable and delicious. I also use many of those same recipes for simple home suppers during the workweek." This pudding is really more like a warm chocolate soufflé cake.

Over the past century, pecans have become closely associated with the South. However, walnuts were actually the pecan's predecessor in the Low Country, and were far more popular in earlier times.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 25 min

Loaded with fruit, this dessert is cut and served as you would a cake, but the texture is that of a pudding. To keep the meal kosher when your menu includes meat, omit the whipped cream frosting and serve this with nondairy topping and the berry sauce. Begin the cake a day ahead.

Elusively spiced, this bread is great spread with margarine or butter substitute or toasted for breakfast.

Passover without macaroons is like Rosh Hashanah without sweet honey cake or Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. Sephardic macaroons use lemon zest for flavoring rather than almond extract. The secret to good macaroons is beating the egg whites just right and not overbaking the cookies.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

(Klejner) Every year research editor Karen Hallal serves these spiced diamond-shaped cookies for dessert on Christmas Eve. They are fried like doughnuts and coated with powdered sugar. The recipe for klejner, popular all over Scandinavia, was given to Karen by her Danish mother.

We call for English-style bitter orange marmalade (made with Seville oranges and often called Dundee) because other types made the ice cream too sweet and too soft. It's available at specialty foods shops and some supermarkets. This recipe makes about a dozen more florentines than you'll need for the sandwiches, but it's a good idea to have extra in case one or two break — and the cookies are delicious even without the ice cream. Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 7 hr (includes freezing)