Stand Mixer

Only half of the praline is used in the dessert; the rest will make a nice topping for ice cream, frozen yogurt or stewed fruit.

Samali: One of the great sweets of Thessaloniki, made in pastry shops, at home, and hawked from small carts on the streets all around the Kapani market.

This moist orange-flavored soufflé is rich with white chocolate. Offer snifters of orange liqueur to sip alongside.

You'll need a candy thermometer to monitor the fudge sauce and the marshmallows.

If time is short, omit the streusel topping.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Only 1/3 cup of flour is used in this recipe, so the cake has a deliciously dense texture.

(Purée de Pommes de Terre, de Topinambours, et de Céleri-rave) At the market in Le Neubourg, not far from where I live in Normandy, each Wednesday farmers bring out their produce in a panoply that directly mirrors the seasons. This dish, which I make with vegetables from that market, is a celebration of fall. Farmers in Le Neubourg are really mostly market gardeners or truck farmers, or maraîchers. They and others like them are the backbone of the French agricultural system, providing from their small plots the best and the freshest produce in the country. Because they are small and sell direct, they can grow a wide variety of vegetables, which is why I can find Jerusalem artichokes alongside potatoes and celery root, dandelion greens, and wild mushrooms gathered in the surrounding woods. Though the vegetables in this dish are unglamorous, the balance here is luscious, rich, and satisfying.

On Valentine's Day, it would be hard to beat these lovely treats. Good news: You can begin pre-paring them a day ahead.

Prepare this a day in advance to give the flavors time to blend and the cake a chance to become firm and properly chilled.

Dolce all'Amaretto Though this is nothing like the Treviso-born tiramisù popularized across the world, we've christened it with the same name because it's just as much a "pick-me-up." The hazelnut cookies soak up the sweet vermouth and are layered with the creamy, whipped mascarpone. Since no cooking is necessary, it is perfect for summer entertaining.

The flavor of this rich chocolate cake is terrific the day it's baked but becomes even deeper over time; we suggest making it at least one day ahead. And it works particularly well as cupcakes.

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.

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.

Begin preparing this a day before serving.