Cinnamon

This cake is best when served the day it is made. You can bake the cake in the morning and finish it later in the day. It can stand in a cool place for about 3 hours before serving. Marrons glacés (whole candied chestnuts) are available in specialty food stores.

These individual upside-down cakes are baked—and can be transported—in a muffin tin.

To make a dairy-free version of this recipe, substitute margarine for the butter and soy milk for the regular milk. The cake can be made (without the pears) 1 day ahead, and stored in plastic wrap at room temperature.

Serve with créme fraîche or whipped cream.

For individual bread puddings, divide the mixture among eight buttered 6-ounce ramekins; reduce the cooking time to 40 minutes.

If you prefer to omit the bourbon, simply double the amount of hot water.

You’ll need to make these onions at least 1 week in advance.

When you look at recipes for European holiday breads like panettone, stollen, tsoureki, and christopsomo, it seems as if they are all related, often sharing similar ingredients and proportions of fat and sugar. Often, the main difference is in the shaping and in the history and symbolism of each bread. But heaven help any of us if we propose that thought to someone who grew up with any of those breads. I once made stollen, panettone, and kulich (Russian Easter bread) from a recipe for multipurpose holiday bread for a group of chefs and explained my theory of their similarities. Later, one of the American chefs told me I had offended some of the Germans who grew up on stollen and who were adamant that stollen is nothing like panettone. So I will resist the temptation to call this formula a multipurpose holiday bread (though I have made many types of bread from it) and instead limit it to its application as Dresden stollen. Dresden is considered the spiritual home of this traditional Christmas bread. The bread symbolizes the blanket of the baby Jesus, and the colored fruits represent the gifts of the Magi. As in nearly every festival bread, the story aspect of this loaf is culturally important, for it is a way parents teach their children about their heritage. When such a story is accompanied by the flavor memory of a particular food, you have a tool much more powerful than didactic or pedagogical teaching. I’m convinced this must be the reason I offended those Germans that day when I implied that a stollen was like a panettone. Perhaps in taste and ingredients, yes, but never in association.

My students often ask me to teach them how to make a cinnamon bun as good as the ones they get at the mall from Cinnabon and other franchise shops. For my money, this version makes a cinnamon bun that outperforms all the malls. But those of us who grew up in eastern Pennsylvania have a soft spot in our hearts for sticky buns, such as the ones originating from the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside. Frankly, everyone in the United States seems to have a favorite regional version, whether it is a cinnamon bun glazed with a sweet, white-sugar fondant or a sticky bun with a caramel glaze. Regardless of side issues, such as white versus caramel glazes, the type of nut (usually walnuts versus pecans), or with or without raisins, the real key to this kind of comfort food is a soft, light, tender, slightly sweet dough baked just right. This formula falls in the enriched, not the rich, dough category because the fat content is slightly under 20 percent. I’ve made versions of sweet dough that do indeed contain up to 50 percent fat, but then why eat the buns? You might as well strap them right onto your hips, since that’s where they will end up (or, as one of my customers used to say, “They call them sticky buns because they stick to your buns!”). Between the shortening, eggs, sugar, and milk, there are plenty of enrichments to tenderize this dough without additional fat. However, if you do want to make a more decadent version of cinnamon or sticky buns, try the formula for Middle-Class Brioche on page 127.

Easy to make, this topping turns ordinary fat-free vanilla yogurt or ice cream into something special. Instead of using syrup on our Pancakes (page 290), try this as a less-sugary, healthier alternative.