Baking

Tarte Tatin meets gingerbread cake in this pretty upside-down dessert.

We get a little weak-kneed with delight around cakes, particularly cakes whimsically shaped to look like something else—in this case, a Yule log. Made famous in France as Bûches de Noël, these sheet cakes, filled, rolled, and frosted to look like the trunks of trees, complete with the stumps of sawed off branches, provide creative cooks the very real opportunity to play with their food. Want a few woodsy meringue mushrooms made from meringue to continue the conceit? Why not? No offense to the French, but we think this Italian version, brushed with an espresso syrup, filled with whipped cream lightened mascarpone cheese, and encased in a serious chocolate ganache, which lends itself well to sculpting, is just about the best we've ever had. Buttercream frosting is good—we know only too well from licking many bowls of it clean—but ganache is easier to make and even better to eat! Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for A Christmas Classic. Menu also includes Herb-Crusted Beef Rib Roast with Potatoes, Carrots, and Pinot Noir Jus and Green Beans with Caramelized Pecans .

These spicy molasses cookies were a popular nineteenth-century New Orleans street food. For years, grocery stores throughout the United States have been selling them prepackaged, and often topped with white or pink icing.

The icebox has gone the way of the horse and buggy, but it didn't disappear before lending its name to the original concept of the slice-and-bake cookie. A roll of this flavorful dough—chock-full of pistachios, cranberries, and oats—in the freezer or fridge is like money in the bank. Impromptu party? Friends drop by unexpectedly? No problem! Just cut off the slices you need, bake them up, and the aroma alone will drive people crazy before they even get a chance to take a bite. You can gussy them up with a drizzle of chocolate, a dusting of shiny sanding sugar, or just leave them be. We expect you'll use this recipe as a template for a year-round supply of creative dough logs: Sour cherries and pecans, golden raisins and walnuts, chopped dates and pine nuts, or just plain chocolate chips. The possibilities are endless. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Holiday Cookie Craze. Menu also includes Coconut Macaroon Sandwiches with Lime Curd and Salted Brown Butter Cookies .

Just reading the words "salted brown butter" is enough to tickle your taste buds. But making salted brown butter the flavor base of a cookie will turn your holiday cookie swap into the hottest, hippest party in town. Thankfully, the dough is a dream to roll out, and it's strong enough to keep the shape of the cookie-cutters you use, no matter how intricate. Want to hang them on the tree? Just cut a little hole before baking with the narrow end of a pastry bag tip. Keep this recipe handy for when you've got a houseful of kids on a school break and need a project to get them off their cell phones! Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Holiday Cookie Craze. Menu also includes Coconut Macaroon Sandwiches with Lime Curd and Pistachio Cranberry Oatmeal Icebox Cookies .

Mushrooms made from meringue are the traditional edible decoration for a Yule log cake, and their cute quotient is high—they never fail to charm young and old alike. Saying they're edible is like calling a chocolate truffle edible; if you love crisp meringue, you'll adore the crunchy, airy contrast the mushrooms provide for our creamy Tiramisu Yule Log cake. Classically they're made from a white meringue, but we couldn't resist coloring ours with a little added cocoa to make the mushrooms look like cremini or baby bellas.

The problem with Franco-American food trends, like the current one with macarons—those pastel puffs of sweet air that seem to be everywhere—is that its good ol' American predecessor, the macaroon, gets forgotten. The truth is, though, we never stopped loving the coconut macaroon. In fact, we craved its dense, moist chew. Retrofit the macaroon as a bite-size sandwich filled with a pucker-worthy tart lime curd, and you've caught a new trend headed straight for the stars. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Holiday Cookie Craze. Menu also includes Pistachio Cranberry Oatmeal Icebox Cookies and Salted Brown Butter Cookies .

Cinnamon, nutmeg and a secret ingredient make this mouthwatering cheesecake anything but ordinary. Cool and creamy with just the right amount of spice...it’s absolutely irresistible!

Fantastic to take as a hostess gift, this fragrant bread is packed with goodness and a few tasty surprises.

Delicious and fast-fix sweets with a trio of favorite flavors—chocolate, marshmallow and peanut butter—are so easy to bake when you start with puff pastry sheets.

Your family will enjoy the homemade taste and old-fashioned goodness of this delectable apple strudel. It’s made with prepared puff pastry, so it’s easy and delicious.

These tempting appetizers look like they’re difficult to make... but they’re not. They feature a spinach, onion and cheese filling simply rolled up in flaky puff pastry and sliced into pinwheels.

Want to impress your guests? Then whip up a batch of these delectable puff-pastry wrapped shrimp stuffed with a mix of cheese, bacon and parsley. They’re superb!

Easy to prepare, but oh so elegant...these tempting appetizers feature asparagus spears individually wrapped with prosciutto, garlic & herb cheese and flaky puff pastry.

Company coming? Here’s an easy and elegant breakfast or brunch idea that your guests will really enjoy. It features puff pastry shells filled with egg, cheese, bacon and chopped chives!

As a rule, every dough you make should contain salt—it complements the sweetness in your filling—and this buttery shortbread is no exception. Using salt in the crust and the filling helps create balance among the sweet, the bitter (from the lemon peel), and the acidic notes (from the fresh lemon juice).

Adding salt to this classic sauce lets you taste the rich complexity of the caramel, not just the sweetness. To save time, feel free to replace the almonds and butter with 1/2 cup store-bought roasted almond butter (with no added sugar). Just stir in the salt and almond extract and it's recipe-ready.

Finishing your cookies with a delicate, flaky salt like Maldon brings out the chocolate flavor and tempers the sweetness, creating the ultimate sweet and salty snack.

Delicate, crumbly little thumbprints that are the perfect combination of sweet and savory—a cheese plate wrapped into one crunchy little morsel.