10,000 butter recipes

Fresh-juicy plums add an extra yumminess to these moist and nutty cupcakes. Pack one or two into your or your kids's lunch-box. Yum!

Homemade chocolate almond caramels infused with coffee-steeped cream. Chewy, rich, and studded with toasted almonds. Wrapped individually, they make a stunning handmade gift.

Buttermilk pound cake with lemon and almond extracts, baked in a 10-inch tube pan or two loaf pans. Tender, fine-crumbed, classic Southern pound cake recipe.

Nero Wolfe's roast quail Veronique stuffed with wild rice, served on ham-topped butter-fried toast with a white wine, veal bouillon, and green grape pan sauce.

No-bake crispy rice squares sweetened with rice syrup instead of marshmallows, bound with almond butter and tahini, studded with chocolate chips, almonds, and coconut. Vegan-friendly.

Creamy homemade coffee fudge topped with a glossy layer of melted chocolate and chopped nuts. Old-fashioned candy-making that yields about 49 squares of pure indulgence.

Chocolate chip walnut pie with melty chocolate chunks, toasted walnuts, and brown sugar baked into a flaky pastry crust. Cookie-meets-pie hybrid that begs for vanilla ice cream on top.

Buttery chocolate madeleines with a Kahlua syrup brush for extra moisture. These shell-shaped French cookies stay fresh for days and freeze beautifully.

Scotch mock apple pie: a Depression-era trick that uses soda crackers, lemon juice, and warm spices to taste exactly like apple pie. No apples required.

Homemade fig newton bars with fresh fig filling inside a cinnamon-laced brown sugar dough, folded like a letter and baked golden. Better than store-bought.

Chicken in parmesan cream sauce with crispy skin, an egg-yolk-enriched mornay sauce, and a broiled breadcrumb-parmesan crust. French bistro classic at home.

Old-fashioned pot roast braised in a Dutch oven with carrots, onions and a homemade pan gravy. Sunday-supper beef chuck the way grandma made it.

Mushrooms, beef, tomatoes and peas are cooked into flavorful gravy, and topped with creamy mashed potato that becomes golden, brown and crispy after baking.

Placek swiateczny is a Polish Christmas bread loaded with walnuts, raisins, orange peel, and a splash of vodka. Bake it days ahead for the best flavor.

Famous Brown Derby red velvet cake with buttermilk-cocoa cake layers, vinegar reaction, and the original cooked-flour ermine frosting. Hollywood diner classic from the 1940s Wilshire icon.

Coffee cake with a hidden filling of dried figs, walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon baked between layers of vanilla batter. A sweet surprise in every slice.