Walnut

This family recipe is wonderful for dessert, breakfast or tea.

Unlike most commercially available chocolate biscotti, these have a deep chocolaty flavor.

Whether you use store-bought applesauce or make your own, this lovely, moist cake will make it hard to stop after one piece. It's very important to beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick, as this, along with the baking powder, is what gets the cake to rise nicely. This cake makes a great gift — it can be made ahead, cooled, glazed, then frozen.

This recipe was created to prepare <epi:recipeLink ="14262">Chocolate Walnut Biscotti with Chocolate Custard Swirls</epi:recipeLink>.

Pastel de tres leches is a traditional Nicaraguan Celebration Cake usually reserved for the holiday season. In this recipe we preserve the traditional presentation, and add some typical American holiday flavors. The cake is composed of four components: Sponge Cake, Rum Milk Syrup, Meringue, and Cranberry Compote.

Packaged Near East tabbouleh mix, available at most supermarkets, is a good source of bulgur, but we don't use the accompanying seasoning pouch. Bulgur-wheat berries that have been steamed, dried, and then cracked- is also found in natural food stores.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Rich brownies are baked with a chocolate syrup that sinks to the bottom and thickens into a fudgy sauce, creating a luscious layering of textures.

Orange syrup sweetens the cake and the fresh fruit that goes with it.

Puff pastry as strudel dough is even faster and more convenient than phyllo dough. A scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen vanilla yogurt is great alongside.

"One of the most unusual restaurants in our area is Kemo Sabe," says Laura Bates of San Diego, California. "Co-chef and co-owner Deborah Scott combines influences from around the world to create interesting dishes—including the restaurant’s signature appetizer of fried Brie with jalapeño jelly. I’d love to serve it to my friends." Place a small bowl of jalapeño jelly on a platter, and surround it with fried Brie wedges and French bread slices for a lovely presentation. Chef Scott makes her own jalapeño jelly; the purchased kind is an easy substitute.