Claire Saffitz
Contributor
Claire Saffitz is a freelance recipe developer and video host. Previously, she was Senior Food Editor at Bon Appétit magazine, where she worked for five years in the test kitchen. She hosted the series Gourmet Makes on the Bon Appétit YouTube channel, where she used her classical pastry knowledge to reverse engineer popular snack foods and candy.
Yeasted Apple Coffee Cake
Jump right into fall baking with this flavorful, bready cake topped with tart sliced apples and an irresistible cinnamon-oat streusel.
Cranberry Chutney With Orange, Figs, and Mustard
If using frozen cranberries, which are just as good for this recipe, don’t bother thawing them first.
Lemony Brussels Sprouts With Bacon and Breadcrumbs
Cooking the brussels in two stages for this recipe ensures that the cores will be tender and the outer leaves will still have bite.
Figs With Bacon and Chile
This figs recipe is sweet, salty, sticky, and acidic—everything you want in a one-bite appetizer.
Apple Gingerbread Cake With Cream
You can use the same weight in regular apples for this gingerbread cake recipe, but don’t the little lady apples just look so awesome?!
Pasta With Mushrooms and Prosciutto
Getting the consistency of the creamy mushroom sauce right is key for this pasta recipe. You want to reduce it just until it clings to the pasta to create a light coating.
Sausage, Greens, and Beans Pasta
The genius of this pasta recipe is in the contrast of the textures and flavors. If spicy isn’t your thing, sub in any fresh sausage you like.
Apple-Cheddar-Rosemary Beignets
Apple and cheddar met on a cheese board, realized they both dreamed of someday turning into a deep-fried doughnut, and ran off to do just that.
Salt-Roasted Potatoes
Remember those pink salt blocks everyone was searing steaks on for a minute? A bit of kosher salt performs a similar function: transmitting heat.
Fully Salted Roast Chicken
This two-ingredient chicken relies on nothing but kosher salt—lots of it—to yield crisp skin and juicy meat.
Salt-As-You-Go Pasta
The combination of salty water and salty Parmesan puts this pasta at risk of becoming oversalted. If that happens, throw in a knob of unsalted butter at the end to mellow it and add a smooth finish.
Salted Butterscotch
Like your desserts extra-salted? Just keep adding more and tasting the butterscotch until you reach your personal sweet-salty threshold.
Preserved Limes
If you like lox, bacon, or anchovies, you should thank salt—and time. That's all that it takes to turn supermarket limes into this pleasantly salt-tart-funky pantry staple, the sibling of preserved lemons.
Neo-Neapolitan Bombe
This retro dessert looks harder to make than it is, which is the whole point.
Maraschino Cherry Parfaits
Layer maraschino liqueur–soaked sweet cherries with a tangy yogurt cream and chewy meringue cookies for a dessert that tastes both heart-warmingly retro and totally modern.
Cinnamon Swirl Vanilla Ice Cream Bars
To help prevent the ice cream bars from melting while you are cutting and dipping them, choose a vanilla ice cream that freezes solid. How can you tell? Squeeze the pint in the freezer case to test which brand feels hardest.
Chocolate Grasshopper Ice Cream Tart
It’s crucial that this tart be frozen solid before slicing. If you are in and out of your freezer a lot, that may take longer than one day; err on the safe side!
Savory Shaved Cantaloupe Salad
When shopping for this salad at the market, pick heavy, aromatic cantaloupes with stem ends that yield slightly when pressed.
