Serves 10 to 12

Baking the pastry on two stacked baking sheets prevents it from burning on the bottom. Be sure to cool the pastries completely before glazing. If the glaze is too thick to spread smoothly, whisk in an additional tablespoon of milk.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We found that we could streamline this two-dough pastry by making more pie dough than we needed and then turning half of it into the crust and cooking the other half and adding eggs to turn it into choux paste for the “puff” top. The pâte à choux needed lengthy baking to prevent collapse, but by the time it was finished cooking, the pie crust bottom was overbrowned. Stacking two sheet pans slowed browning on the bottom, buying time for the top to finish cooking without burning the bottom. To make this pastry live up to its name, we added an extra egg and some water to help it puff higher. Slitting the sides of the pastry to let the steam out after baking dried out the inside and prevented it from imploding.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2013/02/secrets-to-danish-puff-pastry/

MAKES 12 BROWNIES

Be sure to use semisweet chocolate and not semisweet chips—the additives in chips will result in a drier, squat brownie. To ensure moist, fudgy brownies it is important not to overbake them. Be sure to check the brownies for doneness several minutes before the specified baking time has elapsed.

This recipe was published in The Best Light Recipe.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We found several ways to lighten our brownie recipe without sacrificing moistness and chocolate flavor. We used a combination of semisweet chocolate and cocoa powder instead of unsweetened chocolate (which is higher in fat and must be used in combination with more sugar and butter). A little espresso powder accentuated the chocolate flavor in our lighter brownie recipe. And we used just 2 tablespoons butter, instead of the usual 8 to 12 tablespoons, along with 1 tablespoon warm water added to the batter to help bloom the cocoa flavor and keep our low-fat brownies moist.

Nutrition information per brownie: 130 cal., 5 g total fat (2.5 g saturated), 25 mg chol., 19 g carbo., 2 g pro., 1 g fiber, 55 mg sodium.

Makes 16 brownies

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave set to 50 percent power. For a truly fudgy consistency, don’t overbake the brownies; as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with sticky crumbs attached, the brownies are done. If the toothpick emerges with no crumbs, the brownies will be cakey.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Swapping full-fat sour cream for low-fat was an easy—and healthy—substitution that helped us trim a good deal of butter from our Fudgy Low-Fat Brownies recipe. Chocolate syrup added rich flavor with no fat, and cocoa powder blended with bittersweet chocolate boosted the chocolate flavor of our Fudgy Low-Fat Brownies recipe without boosting the fat. Slightly undercooking the brownies ensured they came our fudgy instead of cakey. Traditional brownies have 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 7 grams of saturated fat per brownie. Our Fudgy Low-Fat Brownies have 110 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and 1.5 grams of saturated fat per brownie.

MAKES 64 TRUFFLES

In step 3, letting the chocolate to rest on the counter for 2 hours allows it to “cure”, and contributes to its creamy texture. In step 5, running your knife under hot water and wiping it dry makes cutting the chocolate easier. In addition to the related variations, the truffles can be flavored with 2 tablespoons of your favorite flavored liqueur. We recommend using one of the test kitchen’s favorite baking chocolates, Callebaut Intense Dark L-60-40NV or Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar for this recipe. If giving the truffles as a gift, place each one in a 1 1/2-inch candy cup liner and then place the truffles in a gift box. Keep refrigerated until giving.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
The problem with many homemade truffles is that they have a dry, grainy texture. There are three keys to creating creamy, silky-smooth truffles. First, start with melted chocolate. Melting the chocolate before adding the cream allowed us to stir—rather than whisk—the two together, reducing the incorporation of air that can cause grittiness. Second, add corn syrup and butter. Corn syrup smoothes over the gritty texture of sugar, and butter introduces silkiness. Finally, cooling down the ganache gradually before chilling prevented the formation of grainy crystals.

Makes 25 small brownies

Note that for the caramel, you will need a candy thermometer or an instant-read thermometer that registers high temperatures. Use a ¼-cup dry measuring cup that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray to drizzle the caramel over the brownie batter in step 5. Be very careful when working with the hot caramel; if the caramel cools to the point where it is no longer pourable, reheat it briefly in the microwave (do not let it boil).

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2012/06/secrets-to-making-turtle-brownies/

Makes 8

You will need a large pastry bag with a ½-inch plain tip and a ¼-inch plain tip for this recipe. Be sure the pastry cream is thoroughly chilled before filling the pastries.The chocolate glaze should still be warm when glazing the éclairs.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2012/02/secrets-to-making-eclairs/

SERVES 4

While the bananas cook, scoop the ice cream into individual bowls so they are ready to go once the sauce has been flambéed. Before flambéing, make sure to roll up long shirt sleeves, tie back long hair, turn off the exhaust fan (otherwise the fan may pull the flames up) and turn off any lit burners (this is critical if you have a gas stove).

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/super-quick-video-tips/2013/02/how-to-set-bananas-on-fire-safely-video/

Serves 8

You will need a 9-inch nonstick cake pan with sides that are at least 2 inches high for this cake. Alternatively, use a 10-inch ovenproof stainless steel skillet (don’t use cast iron) to both cook the apples and bake the cake, with the following modifications: Cook the apples in the skillet and set them aside while mixing the batter (it’s OK if the skillet is still warm when the batter is added) and increase the baking time by 7 to 9 minutes. If you don’t have either a 2-inch high cake pan or an ovenproof skillet, use an 8-inch square pan.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Pineapple has become synonymous with upside-down cake ever since canned pineapple was introduced into this country in the early 1900s. But at one time, upside-down cakes were made with seasonal fruit, such as apples. We loved the idea of resurrecting apple upside-down cake. We wanted a rich buttery cake topped with tightly packed, burnished, sweet apples.

We started our testing with choosing the type of apple. Most apples turned mushy and watery and were simply too sweet, but crisp, tart Granny Smiths made the cut. Following the lead of recipes found in our research, we shingled the apples in the pan and poured the cake batter over the top. But once baked and inverted, our apple layer was shrunken and dry. The solution turned out to be increasing the number of apples, for a hefty layer of fruit. This effort yielded better results, but we found the apples to be overcooked, so we turned to a method uncovered in our recipe for Deep-Dish Apple Pie—we precooked half the apples by sautéing them on the stovetop then we cut the remainder thin, so they baked through evenly. For the butter cake, we tested milk, buttermilk, yogurt, and sour cream. Sour cream won hands down—its subtle tang balanced the sweetness of the cake and complemented the caramelized apples. And another addition—cornmeal—gave the cake a hint of earthy flavor and a pleasantly coarse texture. Our final discovery came when we attempted to release the cake cleanly from the pan. Typical recipes instruct a 5 to 10-minute cooling period, but we found that a full 20 minutes was required to allow the apple filling to set. And turning the cake out onto a rack to finish cooling let the bottom of the cake breathe, preventing sogginess, which is typical of so many upside-down cakes.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/gadgets-and-gear/2013/01/meet-the-apple-slicer-of-your-dreams/

Serves 8 to 10

The heavy cream must be ice cold; if not, it won’t hold stiff peaks, no matter how long or hard you beat it. Soften the cream cheese at room temperature; the microwave will cause the cheese to separate.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We wanted our Raspberry Chiffon Pie recipe to produce an intensely flavored pie, so we ramped up its flavor by including a layer of sweetened, thickened fruit on the crust and beneath the chiffon. We also stiffened our recipe’s chiffon filling by using extra gelatin and a little cream cheese, which enabled it to hold additional raspberry puree for even more flavor.

A chocolaty twist on the classic dessert.

Serves 12

You will need 1 tablespoon of melted butter for brushing the pan. For neat, professional-looking pieces of cake, clean the knife thoroughly between slices (see photo).

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: To prevent our chocolate swirl from getting grainy, we combined it with some cream. This kept the swirl smooth and alleviated any potential grittiness. Dipping our knife in water between slices made sure every piece was as clean and pretty as the one before it.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2012/11/secrets-to-marble-cheesecake/