Cardamom

Put on your winter whites for this elegant dessert featuring spiced, wine-poached pears, ladyfingers, and a white chocolate–mascarpone mousse.

The soft, slightly sweet bread called pulla is made with plenty of butter, which results in tender pieces that can be pulled apart, bite by bite.

No need to peel the peaches — the peel provides great color, texture, and flavor. Just gently rub off the peach fuzz with a kitchen towel.

Dried fruits and nuts are common in Moroccan pastries, but this tart is something special — the richness of the dough and the pop of the sesame seeds bring out that honeyed quality you normally associate with fresh figs. The cardamom cream is whisper-light, and the fresh orange segments are refreshingly cool.

This wintertime favorite, a great way to use up the leftover rice in your fridge, gets a surprise lift from lemon zest. For added crunch, sprinkle it with slivered almonds or pistachios before serving. This recipe was originally part of a feature on slow cooking. For additional recipes and tips for using a slow cooker, click here.

These cookies, a twist on traditional snowballs, are just the thing to enjoy with a spot of tea.

The spices in Indian chai tea flavor this creamy cheesecake.

Related to the turnip, rutabagas are slightly sweet, and their flesh has an orangey hue.

Fresh cardamom and vanilla seeds make for a version that's both sweet and sultry.

Here's a grown-up spin on the caramel apple — in tart form.

Thanks to ginger and cardamom, these glazed carrots have a quietly exotic aroma and flavor.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Ethical Gourmet. To read more about the book, click here. Roaming the range foraging for grasses makes pasture-raised beef leaner and more intense in flavor. Grass-fed beef, with its lower fat content, cooks differently from conventional beef, so cook it slower, at lower temperatures. Its concentrated flavors make it an exceptional meat to serve in small, sliced portions as a spicy accompaniment to a grain and vegetable main course such as Pumpkin Basmati Rice Pilaf, Toasted Hard Red Wheat Pilaf with Caramelized Shallots, Figs, and Brazil Nuts, or Spice Whole Oats.

This is our version of chai-shop chai, flavored with a little cardamom and mellowed with hot milk and sugar.

Crème anglaise is both a classic custard sauce and the base for many ice creams. Make a double batch and process half in an ice cream maker for a frozen treat.

This chai is a knockout on its own, but gin adds subtle flavors that complement the chai's complexity. (Needless to say, since Kashmir is predominantly Muslim, alcohol would not be added there.) Nuts in a cocktail seemed a little odd at first, and it's fine to strain them out before serving, but most of us found them addictive.

This would be a crowd-pleasing addition to breakfast or brunch. The iced tea powder adds an intriguing background flavor.

Cholar Dal This dal, a sweet version served at festive occasions, is the best we've ever tasted.