Electric Mixer

Prepared puff pastry makes this easy.

Few cookies are easier to make or more sublime to eat. I created them for my beautiful Hungarian mom, who called them finum, or refined. Sometimes we eat them with a strong cup of coffee as we play Scrabble, or after dinner, with a slightly chilled glass of sweet Tokay wine.

A wonderful cookie to bake with kids. Have them cut out their own snowflake stencils, then let the powdered sugar fly. Lace doilies also work well as stencils.

Ellen Schwab, Bethesda, Md.
"I created this cookie, which combines my two favorite flavors — hazelnut and chocolate — just for this contest."

This recipe yields an extra cake layer that can be reserved for another time. Wrap it tightly in foil, and freeze it for up to a month. Keeping the cake wrapped, defrost it at room temperature; then serve it with berries and whipped cream or ice cream.

Throughout Abraham Lincoln's political career, his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, would periodically bake for him the Todd family's favorite cake, based on a recipe dating back to 1825. On first tasting it, Lincoln is reported to have said that this white almond cake was the "best I ever ate." That's high praise, but we've made a good thing even better by adding a coffee-cinnamon layer and drizzling the cake with a luscious coffee glaze.

A chewy brownie with an intense coffee flavor.

Mango sauce enhanced with crystallized ginger complements this delicious low-fat cake.

Begin preparing this a day before serving.

These irresistible treats are filled with dried apricots, figs and cherries as well as dates and walnuts, and are topped with a cream cheese frosting.

A dessert worthy of the finest steak houses in Chicago, Denver or New York. White chocolate and milk chocolate filling and a bittersweet chocolate frosting give a sophisticated spin to an American favorite.

The secret to this rich and fudgy cake is good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, which provides the smooth taste of chocolate without the fat.