Stand Mixer

Begin making this at least one day ahead.

Jan Esterly of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, writes: "Even though it gets cold where I live, I love grilling outside year-round. I make this amazing recipe only during summer, when I can buy perfect peaches from the roadside stands — like now." Jan also likes to serve these sweet-tart peaches with ice cream and waffles.

Check your local farmers market or Chef's Garden (800-289-4644) for the geranium leaves or experiment with other leaves such as fresh basil or mint.

"All my favorite things are about chocolate," says Elizabeth Falkner. Thin layers of flourless chocolate cake and an intensely chocolaty mousse are paired with crunchy hazelnuts and hints of orange in this truly decadent dessert. Try it with a scoop of coffee-chocolate chip ice cream alongside. For best results, use a premium bittersweet chocolate with a high cocoa bean content (variously labeled "cocoa solids," "cocoa," or "cacao"), such as Scharffen Berger 70 percent or Callebaut.

Freezing the berries before adding them to the batter prevents them from sinking to the bottom and from discoloring the cupcakes. Maple sugar can be found at some supermarkets and natural foods stores.

These delicate meringue desserts would be a lovely ending to a bridal shower. The components of this dish can be made several hours ahead and assembled shortly before serving.

Like the Dried Pear Soufflé, this dessert relies on dried fruit rather than a lot of fat for richness. The glazed cherries add color; dried cherries may be substituted if you like. Any fresh fruit in season can be used to garnish the dessert.

For historic continuity, ferociously loyal community support, and an atmosphere that you could spread with a knife, you can't beat the hamburger joint Louis' Lunch, in New Haven, Connecticut. Since 1898, the Lassen family has been grinding its own beef daily, hand shaping patties to order, and grilling burgers on antique cast-iron broilers in front of live flames. (This answers the question once and for all — the proper way to cook a hamburger is by grilling, not by frying it on a griddle.) And as any regional American culinary landmark should be, Louis' Lunch is sufficiently quirky to allow melted processed cheese but militantly prohibit ketchup and mustard as accompaniments to its signature burgers. Here, then, is the next best thing to elbowing your way up to the counter at Louis'.

Food Editor: Ian Knauer
Father: Robert M. Knauer, Allentown, PA
As a mother of seven, my grandmother was always in the kitchen and often made these bell-shaped cookies. Now, when I make them for my father from her handwritten recipe, he says the taste takes him back to his childhood.

Although this cake, used in the grilled coconut pound-cake sundaes with tropical fruit, calls for flaked coconut, don't be tempted to omit the coconut extract — it really adds depth to the coconut flavor.

Although the name means "half-frozen," a semifreddo is made by freezing a mousse-like custard in a mold. The result is an airy confection, which may explain the impression that it is only semifreddo.

You'll need an instant-read thermometer and a heavy-duty stand mixer with paddle attachment to make this brioche-like sweet bread.

An interesting mix of brown sugar, pecans, and sea salt fills this woven lattice-top bread. You'll need a heavy-duty stand mixer with paddle attachment.

(Tamal de Coco) These tamales were created for a Mexican Passover menu, to accompany Santibañez's Slow-Braised Lamb Shanks with Guajillo-Pineapple Sauce. If you're not preparing the tamales for Passover, you can substitute nonkosher ingredients such as regular vanilla extract and butter.

This lightly sweet brioche is the coffee cake of Alsace (where it is also known by its German name, kugelhopf). It can be baked in an eight- or nine-cup crown-shaped kouglof (or kugelhopf) mold, a fluted ring mold, or a tube or Bundt pan. While the cake is best on the same day it is baked, leftovers are delicious toasted.

Gnocchi à la Parisienne Parisienne gnocchi are made from pâte à choux, a versatile dough made by cooking flour and water together until the flour cooks, after which eggs are stirred in. It can then be piped into various shapes and baked for profiteroles and éclairs for dessert, or savory preparations such as gougères, or gently poached in water as gnocchi. Parisienne gnocchi are tasty, satisfying morsels that, like Italian gnocchi or any pasta, can be paired with all kinds of ingredients and transformed into countless dishes. They're excellent simply sautéed in butter. They can be additionally flavored with fines herbes, mustard, and cheese. At Bouchon, we don't serve much pasta or rice, so we use gnocchi as an interesting base for a number of our vegetarian dishes. They're not a classic bistro food, but the technique is a French one, dating back to before Escoffier. This recipe will make about 240 gnocchi, double what you'll need for the Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash . Once they've been poached, gnocchi can be frozen for a month to six weeks.