Electric Mixer

Even imperfect, not-quite-ripe pears will become tender and richly flavored when baked in a crisp (apples, of course, are another good way to go). What makes this crisp especially lovely is cardamom, an assertive, warm spice, traditional in baking (especially in Sweden) with a wonderfully home-filling aroma.

The crispy, cookie-like crust is incredible with the soft soufflé filling.

Crushed peppermint candies make a festive, crunchy topping for these pretty cookies.

A fancy take on tiramisù: Layers of tender, espresso-infused cake, chocolate ganache, and espresso mousse.

For some, Christmas dinner wouldn't be complete without beef. Here, a decadent prime rib roast is coated in mustard seeds and served with a tangy mustard sauce and sweet-sour onions. Serve with steamed baby carrots.

To heighten the toffee flavor, substitute toffee baking bits for half of the chopped almonds.

Various Central European countries have their own variations on these popular filled cookies, sometimes spelled kolache or kolace. Some are made with a yeast dough, others with cream cheese or even ice cream. The cream cheese dough is the most popular for the Polish version of these rich cookies.

Use fruit-flavored Life Savers, sour balls, or similar hard candies for the "stained glass." It is fun to make your own design for the ornaments. For example, if you want to make a holly leaf or a dove, draw the shape on a piece of cardboard—about 3 inches in diameter is a good size—and cut it out. Edge the gingerbread strips around the design on the cookie sheet. Continue until all the gingerbread has been used. To crush the candies, use a food processor or place the candies between 2 pieces of waxed paper and crush with a rolling pin.

For reasons that elude me, cakes are reputed to require long hours in the kitchen, when anyone who actually makes cakes knows that cookies are the true time suck. Cookies require measuring out portions and multiple batches. Cakes get mixed up and go into the oven all at once. The most complaisant ones even cool in their pans and require no icing. All of which is why if you look back in the Times archives at recipes from thirty or more years ago, when most people cooked every day, there were many more cake recipes. Cake was a staple you whipped up every couple of days, after the previous one had vanished into crumbs. Teddie's apple cake is a typical standby of the period. None of the ingredients are difficult to find—most are probably already in your pantry. Based on oil rather than butter, the cake has a light, airy crumb that's delicious while it lasts, with walnuts, raisins, and slivers of apple threaded through the cinnamon-scented cake. There is no icing, and no need for it. When I asked readers for their favorite recipes from the Times, this one was near the top, with thirty-seven votes. Like many of the most recommended recipes, it shares three qualities: ease, good flavor, and someone's name in its title. Unfortunately, I still have no idea who Teddie is.

Ever since I first tasted bean pie at The Know bookstore in Durham, North Carolina, I've been a fan. Given my deep affection for egg custard, pumpkin, and sweet potato pies, it's no surprise that I would adore bean pie, which shares culinary roots with those pie favorites. Developed in the 1930s as part of the nutritional teachings of the Nation of Islam, bean pies became standard items at black Muslim bakeries in urban communities from Chicago and Oakland to Detroit and Washington, D.C. Navy beans are most commonly cited in recipes, but great northern beans and pinto beans are also popular choices. With a can of beans and the usual custard pie ingredients, you can turn out a delicious bean pie fast. You can use a blender or a food processor to mix up your filling, or mash the cooked, drained beans well with a potato masher or a fork.

Not only is our mash low-cal, but it also provides more than a quarter of your daily requirement for cell-building vitamin B6.

The technique: Eggs change everything: The yolks add richness and texture, and folding in beaten egg whites elevates the sweet potato casserole to new heights.
The payoff: A sophisticated take on the classic marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole.

Shortbread—full of buttery flavor and a crumbly melt-in-your-mouth texture that few other cookies can deliver—is another item that must be included in most teatime menus. Brown sugar gives these a hint of molasses. For truly extraordinary results, instead of standard brown sugar, use muscovado sugar, which is made by a centuries-old process and has a deeper flavor.