Dessert

A salty, crumbly pistachio topping; juicy macerated fruit; and yes, store-bought ice cream combine for a back-pocket dessert that might feel a bit like cheating but is so good nobody will care.

You can fill this tart shell with your choice of sweet or savory fillings—from cheeses, to roast vegetables, to stone fruits.

All kinds of seasonal fruit are great in galettes. Serve warm (with ice cream or whipped cream) or at room temperature.

Dried red dates, also known as jujubes, contribute an earthy-sweet caramel flavor to this toffee-glazed cake from Pastry Chef Danielle Spencer of Win Son Bakery in Brooklyn. Look for red dates in most Asian groceries or health food stores.

The secret to the fudgiest, most chocolaty brownies is cocoa powder—not melted chocolate. We borrowed chocolate expert Alice Medrich’s technique, then added a cream cheese topping for tangy balance. 

If you want to bake these cookies now and don’t have buckwheat flour on hand, whole wheat flour is an acceptable substitute. Your cookies won’t have the same depth of flavor, but they will still be delicious.

Sweet rice flour makes this super-adaptable cake gooey-bouncy on the inside and crispy-chewy on the outside. Even better, this particular recipe can go in any flavor direction you want: Add cocoa, matcha, or malt powder; throw in some cinnamon, cardamom, or turmeric.

We took millionaire bars—shortbread plus caramel plus chocolate—and gave them an upgrade (hence, billions) with sesame seeds and tahini. The shortbread is tender, the filling is gooey, and the chocolate ties it all together.

This cake, made with whipped cream instead of butter, is a deliciously plain, moist, coal-black loaf flavored with orange zest and steeped in orange juice after it is baked.

At first glance, this cake seems to contain no butter or oil. But on closer analysis, I discovered that the butterfat contained in the cream was more than equal to the usual amount of butter added.

Take your time when streaming the butter into the egg and sugar mixture—you want to create an emulsion, as when making a vinaigrette. If you go too quickly, you’ll end up with a greasy batter.

These crepes are a great solution for using up discarded sourdough starter. Tender and a little bit tangy, they make an ideal blank canvas for sweet or savory toppings like jam, crème fraîche, demerara sugar, or lox.

Because you don’t have to chill the dough, this cookie cuts your kitchen time in half. And when it comes time to decorate, no need to panic if your first attempts don’t work out. Simply wipe off the failed glaze and let the cookie dry for about five minutes, then try again.