Here’s another one of my favorite riffable emergency desserts. I often throw it together if I’m entertaining unexpectedly because it’s super easy (if I have pie dough in the freezer) and really pretty. You know the drill by now: use any nut you like and your favorite jam. Some combinations I’m awfully fond of are apricot jam and pistachios (pictured), raspberry jam and peanuts, or blackberry or cherry and hazelnuts. Be sure to bake your tart on a rack set in the lower third position of the oven. This helps the bottom of the tart get nice and golden at the same rate as the top. Baking to a deep golden brown also ensures the leftovers are sturdy and portable.
Whenever I make this cheesecake for a party, my winning dessert from The Great American Baking Show finale, it’s always the first thing to disappear. The buttery, brown sugary pecan crust is reminiscent of pecan candy, an ode to Louisiana, while the dreamily creamy, slightly tangy filling is a lemony-rich homage to New York’s signature dessert, the cheesecake. Sometimes, just to show off, I add even more layers of texture and tartness by topping it with freshly whipped cream and berries, see cheesecake photo on page 176, or drizzling warm, creamy caramel directly over the cheesecake to contrast the chilled interior.
The cheesecake gets its sublime texture because it’s baked in a water bath—kind of like a mini Jacuzzi. The water bath ensures the cheesecake is baked gently, while providing a steamy environment that makes for an extra creamy cheesecake. Plus, the water bath encourages the cheesecake’s top to remain perfectly flat, a geometric feat in a world of cracked top cheesecakes.
Once upon a time, on a culinary trip to the Basque region of Spain, chef Dave Beran stumbled upon a gem of a sweet. It was an amazing, heart-stopping, cannot-stop-eating cheesecake at a teeny, tiny pintxos place. As Dave put it, it was “a happy accident.” Now, this is not your typical cheesecake. It has only five ingredients, comes together in a food processor, and emerges from the oven jiggly and blackened. It is one of the best things you will ever taste and as Dave says, “it’s stupid simple.”
WHEN YOU BAKE APPLES with caramel sauce, you get a juicy mixture—juicier than a traditional apple pie filling, because there are no thickeners. You also get one that’s less sweet— “burning” the sugar to caramelize it gives it pleasantly bitter undertones. These are the characteristics that make this filling a good match for a topping that’s sweet, earthy and crunchy. It’s a topping that began life as streusel and ended by welcoming whole wheat flour (the earthy element) and oatmeal. You can swap the apples for pears or make this with quinces or, better yet, a combination of quinces, apples and/or pears. While you’re fiddling, think about adding toasted nuts (walnuts or pecans) to the mix.
Using a vanilla bean makes this creamy pudding extra special and aromatic. But if you don’t have one on hand, just stir 1 tablespoon vanilla extract into the pudding along with the egg yolks. Although rice pudding is traditionally served cold, I also like this when it’s still warm and a little runny, poured over sliced strawberries and raspberries, which add both juiciness and acidity.
When we conceived Goldie Falafel, instead of thinking of falafel as an ethnic specialty, we wanted to present it as a vegan alternative to saturated-fat-laden hamburgers, but still wrapped in the flag of the great American fast-food joint. Falafel and French fries—which are often stuffed into pita along with the falafel—were the easy part, since both are naturally vegan and fundamentally delicious.
Recipe by Stella Parks. Introduction by Food52's Kristen Miglore.
Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crunch
FROM YANKEE MAGAZINE
Recipe introduction from Food52's Genius Desserts by Kristen Miglore: