Serves 6 to 8

If your skillet is not ovensafe, prepare the recipe through step 3 and then transfer the filling to a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Top the filling as directed and bake for an additional 5 minutes. We like Golden Delicious apples for this recipe, but any sweet, crisp apple such as Honeycrisp or Braeburn can be substituted. Do not use Granny Smith apples in this recipe. While rolled oats are preferable in the topping, quick-cooking oats can be substituted. Serve the apple crisp warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

You might need to buy:
  • Topping:
  • ground cinnamon
  • table salt
  • Filling:
  • apple cider
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • unsalted butter

Serves 8 to 10

Challah is an egg-enriched bread that can be found in most bakeries and supermarkets. If you cannot find challah, a firm high-quality sandwich bread such as Arnold Country Classics White or Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White may be substituted. If desired, serve this pudding with softly whipped cream or with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Sauce (see related recipe). Store leftovers tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. To retain a crisp top crust when reheating leftovers, cut the bread pudding into squares and heat, uncovered, in a 450-degree oven until warmed through, 6 to 8 minutes.

You might need to buy:
  • light brown sugar
  • large egg yolks
  • vanilla extract
  • table salt
  • heavy cream
  • milk

Makes one 8-inch square cake, serving 8 to 10

This cake packs potent yet well-balanced, fragrant, spicy heat. If you are particularly sensitive to spice, you can decrease the amount of dried ginger to 1 tablespoon. Guinness is the test kitchen’s favorite brand of stout. Avoid opening the oven door until the minimum baking time has elapsed. If your cake pan has thin walls, you might want to wrap it with premade cake strips or make your own from cheesecloth and foil. This extra insulation will help ensure that the edges of the cake don’t overbake. Serve the gingerbread plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for 2 days.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Most gingerbread recipes that are moist also suffer from a dense, sunken center, and flavors range from barely gingery to spice overload. Focusing on flavor first, we bumped up the ginger flavor by using ground ginger and grated fresh ginger and accented the ginger with cinnamon and fresh-ground pepper. As for the liquid components, dark stout had a bittersweet flavor that brought out the caramel undertones of the molasses. Finally, swapping out the butter for vegetable oil and replacing some of the brown sugar with granulated let the spice flavors come through. To prevent a sunken center, we incorporated the baking soda with the wet ingredients instead of the other dry ones, which helped to neutralize those acidic ingredients before they were incorporated into the batter and allowed the baking powder to do a better job. And vigorous stirring gave our bread the structure necessary to further ensure the center didn’t collapse.

You might need to buy:
  • baking soda
  • mild molasses
  • baking powder
  • table salt
  • ground cinnamon
  • finely ground black pepper
  • large eggs
  • vegetable oil
  • finely grated fresh ginger

MAKES ONE 9-INCH CAKE, SERVING 12 TO 16

We recommend using either Callebaut Intense Dark L-60-40NV or Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar, but any high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate will work. If you’re refrigerating the cake for more than 1 hour in step 6, let it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Using ground nuts in place of some of the flour gave our rich, fudgy, flourless chocolate cake a sturdy enough texture to serve as the base of our chocolate-raspberry torte recipe. We combined raspberry jam with lightly mashed fresh raspberries for a tangy-sweet mixture that clung to the cake. And for the glaze, melting bittersweet chocolate with heavy cream created a rich-tasting, glossy ganache that poured smoothly over the cake and made the perfect topping to our chocolate-raspberry torte.

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/print/detail.asp?docid=26328&Extcode=N00SPHA00

You might need to buy:
  • CAKE AND FILLING
  • vanilla extract
  • instant espresso powder
  • table salt
  • large eggs
  • seedless raspberry jam
  • CHOCOLATE GANACHE GLAZE
  • heavy cream

Makes about 1 Quart

Two teaspoons of vanilla extract can be substituted for the vanilla bean; stir the extract into the cold custard in step 3. An instant-read thermometer is critical for the best results. Using a prechilled metal baking pan and working quickly in step 4 will help prevent melting and refreezing of the ice cream and will speed the hardening process. If using a canister-style ice-cream machine, be sure to freeze the empty canister at least 24 hours and preferably 48 hours before churning. For self-refrigerating ice-cream machines, prechill the canister by running the machine for 5 to 10 minutes before pouring in the custard.

You might need to buy:
  • vanilla bean
  • heavy cream
  • whole milk
  • sugar
  • light corn syrup
  • salt
  • large egg yolks

8 to 10

If you cannot find challah, firm, high-quality sandwich bread may be substituted.

You might need to buy:
  • Vegetable oil spray
  • chocolate chips
  • heavy cream
  • whole milk
  • large egg yolks
  • Nutella spread
  • granulated sugar
  • vanilla extract
  • salt
  • light brown sugar

Makes one 9-inch pie, serving 8 to 10

To account for any imperfect strawberries, the ingredient list calls for several more ounces of berries than will be used in the pie. If possible, seek out ripe, farmers’ market–quality berries. Make certain that you use Sure-Jell engineered for low- or no-sugar recipes (packaged in a pink box) and not regular Sure-Jell (in a yellow box); otherwise, the glaze will not set properly. The pie is at its best after two or three hours of chilling; as it continues to chill, the glaze becomes softer and wetter, though the pie will taste just as good.

Pairs with:
Chateau Ste. Michelle Late Harvest Chenin Blanc
The crispness of chenin blanc is a wonderful companion to a fruit pie.

You might need to buy:
  • FILLING:
  • Generous pinch Table salt
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • WHIPPED CREAM:
  • cold heavy cream
  • sugar

Serves 8

In step 5, the cooled frosting stays soft and spreadable longer than other recipes, but it will harden over time. If the frosting does begin to stiffen, you can microwave it for about 10 seconds (or until it returns to a spreadable consistency).

For SALTED CARAMEL FROSTING substitute 3/4 tsp salt for 1/2 teaspoon salt as per http://thepastamanblog.com/post/6486780930/salted-caramel-frosting

Pairs with:
Chateau Ste. Michelle Late Harvest Chenin Blanc
The crisp acidity of chenin blan serves to brighten the sweet caramel.

You might need to buy:
  • CAKE:
  • vanilla extract
  • all-purpose flour
  • granulated sugar
  • baking powder
  • baking soda
  • salt
  • FROSTING:
  • packed dark brown sugar
  • salt
  • heavy cream
  • vanilla extract
Belongs to SBee Brown Sugar Blongies 

Add various colored M&M’s according to the season
s

ready in about 40 minutes
You might need to buy:
  • flour
  • baking powder
  • baking soda
  • salt
  • butter
  • packed brown sugar
  • egg
  • vanilla
  • M&M's

Good

ready in about an hour and 20 minutes
You might need to buy:
  • sugar
  • powdered sugar
  • vanilla
  • flour
  • bag caramel candies
  • vanilla
  • heavy whipping cream
  • coarse sea salt