This is wildly simple to make and one of those desserts that my friends can’t stop eating. It’s a sweet dessert that’s just pulled back from the edge by the bitterness of the tahini, alcohol and walnuts, resulting in something altogether grown-up. The caramelized walnuts, which – I warn you – are completely addictive, are adapted from Alison Roman. Meanwhile, the brown sugar bananas, while optional, add further indulgence and make this dinner-party-worthy.
It is best to use a Middle Eastern brand of tahini for this recipe in order to get the right texture. This dessert requires freezing overnight.
A buckle was one of my signature cakes when I worked as pastry chef for the Gjelina Group. Every bite is tangy, tart, and deliciously rich. I love this cake with mixed berries, but using one single variety can also be nice. If you’re serving it after dinner, add some fresh berries and a little whipped cream on the side.
Hanukkah is a fine time to serve these at brunch with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream on top. I am constantly amazed at just how far Jewish food travels: when I was working on the update for this book, my daughter Daniela told me that a relative of her Chilean friend posted a recipe online for apple latkes. When I contacted her, I realized it was a Polish recipe. Shortly afterward, Daniela, on a train going through Poland, tasted a similar apple pancake. You can also substitute stone fruits, like apricots, plums, or peaches—in the late spring, at Shavuot, or anytime.
A lemon tart is a beautifully delicate dessert. It’s not too in-your-face but can certainly hold its own. A good lemon tart should have a well-pronounced lemon flavour but it shouldn’t be so tart that it makes you wince (as did my first few attempts of this tart). The silky, buttery filling is zingy and fresh and would be perfect for a springtime evening dessert. A lightly infused basil cream brings some fragrance and playfulness that keeps people going back in for a second or third slice. For a bit of extra frill, I like to blitz some leftover basil leaves in a food processor with caster sugar and sprinkle it on top.
It will be completely un-shocking that my visit to Japan was more cake-centric, less fish-focused. I ate the flooffiest pumpkin doughnuts, elegant apple shortbread cookie sandwiches, silky coffee caramel flan and cheesecake. At the tiny pastry shop Equal Pastryshop, I ate a strawberry shortcake whose perfection made me want to hang up my apron, because if such baking beauty already exists in this world, then my efforts are futile.
The Japanese shortcake is their refined version of the American shortcake and is layers of dairy-rich sponge, cream and strawberries. Eating it feels like hugging a puppy, the first day of t-shirt weather in spring and knowing you are loved all at once.
Okay, now don’t freak out, but there is mayonnaise in this cake. I know: crazy. But it takes the place of the oil in the recipe, as well as the eggs (though, yes, I do throw in one, for good measure). And the texture is so perfect, as well as the flavor, that you need to put any mayo-phobias behind you and get baking. The marshmallow frosting here is epic, but if you’re just not feeling like pulling out your stand mixer for it, I totally understand and suggest you glaze this cutie with Cream Cheese Glaze instead.
Ordinary meringue could be used for these nests, but they won’t be quite so firm, nor will they store so well. Meringue cuite is traditional because it holds its shape so well and is drier. Vary the fruit in these nests depending on the season.
If the flavors of autumn could be rolled into one, this meringue roulade would be the result: warming cinnamon, burnt honey, sweet apples, and tangy orange come together to make a dessert fit for the festive season. Make sure all your individual components have completely cooled before assembling—you don’t want to create any excess moisture in the roulade. Get ahead by preparing the apples and cream the day before, keeping them refrigerated until needed.
The first step of our tarte Tatin recipe was on the stovetop, not in the oven. We arranged apple quarters in concentric circles in a skillet on their cut side so we could fit more fruit, and flipped the apples over as they caramelized. We prepared the caramel right in the skillet with the apples so the flavors melded and the apples were boiled in the buttery caramel sauce until they absorbed the syrup and become virtually candied. We then covered the syrup-soaked apples with an egg pastry that contained confectioners' sugar rather than granulated sugar, which can make the dough grainy. After baking our tarte Tatin recipe, we flipped the tart over, revealing concentric circles of apples glazed with golden caramel.
As I said in the introduction [of Desserts LaBelle], “Sweet Talk from Patti,” sweet potato pie is in my blood. Any and every sweet potato pie I make is compared to the OG: Chubby’s version, which was also the inspiration behind my dear friend Norma’s recipe. (It’s in my first cookbook, LaBelle Cuisine. If you don’t have the book, last time I checked the recipe was also online.) Why I can’t leave a good thing alone, I don’t know. This is my current rendition, which starts with Chubby’s pie and throws in some new tricks, too. If you have been boiling sweet potatoes for your pie, try the microwave method here. It is a lot quicker.