Ingredients
These cookies taste like a mug of rich hot chocolate. The deep mocha-flavor is followed by a kick of cayenne pepper. Don't let the heat put you off; it only enhances the flavor.
When Tony Fortuna, the owner of Lenox, one of my favorite restaurants in New York City, gave me this recipe for his biscotti, I stopped making any other almond biscotti and started making these in double batches--twice a week. They are perfect--crunchy but not rock solid, dippable, dunkable and eminently munchable, as good with breakfast café au lait as with late-night herbal tea. They're great with ice cream, fruit salad, mousses and puddings too. Mille grazie, Tony.
Not a traditional Florentine, this lacelike biscuit is the kind you just can't leave alone. Although its crisp lightness is quite extraordinary, you could brush one side with melted dark chocolate if you like, to justify the name and give it a more substantial texture.
This panna cotta is like eating vanilla ice cream.
These are my rendition of my grandmother's sugar cookies, the ones she used to make for us every week, sprinkling the tops of the cookies earmarked for my brother and me with cinnamon sugar and the tops of those meant for our parents with poppy seeds. Actually this recipe is a composite of grandmother recipes, from mine and my husband's (with an Aunt Bertha recipe tossed in for good measure), all of which were written on small recipe cards and fingerprint-stained long before they came to me.
Back in the day, home cooks used to clip recipes from women's auxiliary books and the Sunday papers, or they'd find them on the label of a trusted brand. My mom made her pecan pie from the recipe on the back of the Karo corn syrup bottle. She even called it "Karo pie." Our version of this classic pie is rich and buttery and features plenty of crunchy Georgia pecans and a shot of Kentucky bourbon.
This piecrust is revolutionary. It's a press-in crust, with no rolling or chilling required. Plus, it's buttery and flaky, and so easy to prepare it just may give you the courage to go forth and make a pie on a whim. You can use either granulated sugar or light brown sugar. Both are equally delicious here.
I cannot imagine a holiday without this traditional Southern pie on the table. I use almost every spice in the cabinet to add depth and warmth to the silky filling. Serve it with a big dollop of whipped cream, with a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg on top.
Do you love cream cheese icing? Do you consider it the best part of carrot cake and red velvet cupcakes? If so, then you need to try this recipe. It's old-fashioned, and it takes a little more time, but oh, it's worth it. This is so creamy, so rich — and it tastes of cream cheese all the way.