Cream cheese rugelach with a tender, flaky pastry rolled around fruit jam. The classic Eastern European Jewish cookie, bakery-style at home with eight ingredients and zero kneading.
No-bake Merry Bars layered with graham crackers, mashed banana, maraschino cherries, coconut, and nuts in a butter-powdered sugar base. Festive, colorful, and fridge-set.
Smørkranser are traditional Norwegian butter wreath cookies made with just four ingredients: butter, sugar, egg yolk and flour. Shaped into tiny wreaths, brushed with egg white and topped with colored sugar.
Greek rigani cheese bread with 3/4 pound of feta, dried oregano, and mint kneaded into a rustic olive oil yeast dough. Baked golden with an egg wash finish.
Pollo a la creme with sauteed chicken in sweet cream served inside a baked noodle ring mold with cheese and bechamel. A vintage dinner party showpiece with French technique.
Italian Bolognese pinwheel cookies filled with thick fruit jam, rolled jelly-roll style, and sliced into spirals. Use fig, sour cherry, quince, or apricot jam. Makes 4 rolls.
Classic British sherry trifle layered with jam-spread sponge cake, raspberries, bananas, homemade egg custard, whipped cream, and toasted almonds. A make-ahead showpiece that chills for hours.
Dessert pizza topped with homemade pistachio custard cream and fresh fruit. A from-scratch pistachio milk custard spread over a baked pizza shell.
Baked clams on the half shell topped with a crispy tasso and Parmesan crust, drizzled with saffron sabayon. An elegant Cajun-inspired appetizer ready in 25 minutes.
Chewy, golden homemade bagels boiled then baked to crusty perfection. Includes whole wheat, pumpernickel, onion, and seeded variations. Makes 12 bagels from scratch.
Lemon snow pudding with basil custard sauce: a cloud-light whipped gelatin dessert with bright lemon and a silky basil-infused crème anglaise poured over top. Elegant, old-school, and delicately refreshing.
Coffee cake muffins with a Ghirardelli dark chocolate crumble swirled through. The crumble is spiked with orange zest, cinnamon, instant coffee, and pecans. Egg-washed tops bake up golden and glossy.
Caramel surprise cake, individual molten chocolate cakes hiding frozen caramel candies that ooze when cut. Served over pooled caramel and feathered chocolate sauce.
Golden Buck is a British cheese sauce of melted cheddar, malt liquor, butter, and egg yolk served over hot toast. Welsh rarebit's richer cousin with a silky yolk finish.
Red pepper rouille is a Provencal-style emulsified sauce of roasted peppers, garlic, basil, and chili. The smoky, garlicky French aioli for grilled fish, bouillabaisse, and crusty bread.
Foolproof lasagna with ground beef in tomato sauce, layered with ricotta and mozzarella, then topped with a creamy parmesan béchamel for the crowning finish.