Cinnamon

The layered finish that tops this apple pie is created by shingling the leaves. Pastry cutouts in any shape can be arranged in this manner; here, a flurry of leaves accentuates the pie’s autumnal nature.

This ice cream has a custardlike flavor and texture. The taste improves and mellows if the ice cream is left to sit for a day in the freezer.

Season: Late August to September. Dark-skinned with a bluish bloom, small oval damson plums are very tart and well flavored, which makes them wonderful for preserving. This is a straightforward recipe that keeps the fruit whole and tender. I love warming cinnamon and allspice in the mix, but you can use any spices you fancy, or even a good tablespoonful of ready-made pickling spice (see p. 89). These sweet spiced damsons are a lovely addition to any buffet table and splendid with cold poultry.

The name for these pressed cookies comes from the German word spritzen (“to squirt”); they can be quickly formed with a cookie press. Although they have a very fine crumb, the wreaths are sturdy enough for packaging (see page 342 for a gift idea).

The origin of the name of these homey, drop-style cookies is unclear, but recipes for them appear in early-twentieth-century American cookbooks and newspapers. After rolling balls of dough in cinnamon sugar, give them ample room on baking sheets; they spread quite a bit.

The original recipe for these cinnamon cookies is written on an index card in my sister Beth’s earliest cursive handwriting, and it is probably the first recipe I remember her making when we were girls. She still makes them every Halloween.

One of our girls doesn’t like chocolate! Hard to believe if you’re a chocolate lover like me, but I’m always looking for a chocolate alternative for dessert around my house. Fortunately, this was Beth’s specialty growing up, and I’ve stolen her recipe for my own.

Beth makes this cake every time it’s her turn to take refreshments for her Sunday School class. It’s made in a bundt pan, so it looks beautiful, and the sour cream gives it great flavor and a moist texture. Those little tunnels of brown sugar and nuts are a nice surprise. People always ask her for the recipe.

I think making someone else’s recipes is a wonderful way to remember them when they’re no longer with us. Garth’s brother Jerry loved my cooking, and he was a good cook himself. He always made me feel he truly appreciated the meals I made for him, and I loved him for it. He had a wonderful smile and a great spirit. Jerry brought these pecans out to the house one day, and I only stopped eating them when they were gone! The butter and sugar make them crunchy, sweet, and rich.

This recipe, aka Kälte Glühwein trinken für Freunde im Sommer, was inspired by a box of German mulled wine: it depicted a blond, deliriously happy family sitting down to a few cups of this mulled tea. Serve in highball glasses.

Spiced pecans add sophisticated nuance to this cinnamon-spiked chocolate ganache tart.

This cinnamon-glazed cookie is French toast in cookie form—a breadlike texture with cinnamon-sweet flavor. You can add chopped candied pecans by sprinkling them onto the cookie after it’s iced but while the icing is still wet. This recipe directs you to spoon the icing over the tops of the cookies, but if you like the playfulness of the rounded bottoms from the Mini Black and White Cookies (page 77), you can flip them over and ice the bottoms using the same technique.

This is another great example of turning the flavors you like from a raditional dessert into a more modern form. Imagine the elements of tiramisù—ladyfingers, ricotta pastry cream, cinnamon, and coffee liqueur—and figure out the components of a cupcake that will best match up with those flavors. Then, voilà!, you have a new kind of cupcake. We assemble this cupcake without alcohol, but feel free to substitute Kahlúa or another coffee liqueur for the espresso (or in addition to the espresso) to give this dessert an extra punch.

THESE CINNAMON BUNS WERE INSPIRED BY the Magic Bakery Café on Whidbey Island, a small island north of Seattle, known for its handmade baked goods. Waking up to the aroma of freshly baked buns is guaranteed to start your weekend on the right note. Adding the potato to the dough results in a very light and moist bun. If you prefer your sugar later in the day, serve the buns as a dessert with Three-Citrus Honey-Butter Syrup (page 218) drizzled over the top.

IF YOU THINK YOU DON’T LIKE GINGER, these cookies are sure to change your mind. With cloves, cinnamon, and ginger, these soft, chewy cookies have a bite all their own. Ground ginger has a more intense flavor than fresh and is ideal for baking. The only way to improve on these cookies is to sandwich vanilla ice cream between pairs of them. (See photograph on page 174.)

SNICKERDOODLE IS ANOTHER NAME FOR a vanilla butter cookie covered in cinnamon sugar. Light and soft in texture, they’re simple to make. Cut them into shapes, such as triangles, before baking and dip the pieces in melted chocolate once they’re cool for a fun dessert. They also make the perfect cookie for ice cream sandwiches. (See photograph on page 174.)

Crisps and cobblers are humble desserts, not too sweet, and full of flavor. A deep layer of fruit is baked under a crunchy topping or cream biscuits, much like a deep-dish pie with a top crust. Every season has fruit to offer: apples and pears in fall and winter, rhubarb and strawberries in the spring, and all the stone fruits and berries of summer. A crisp topping is a coarse mixture of flour, brown sugar, nuts, and spices, with butter worked into the flour mixture just until it’s crumbly. Crisp topping is as easy to make in large batches as it is in small batches, and it freezes very well for up to 2 months. It is a convenient staple to have in the freezer for a quick dessert for an unexpected occasion. Topped with biscuits, cobblers are less sweet than crisps and best made with juicy fruits. I make simple cream biscuits out of flour and butter worked together, leavened with a little baking powder, and moistened with heavy cream. The dough is rolled out on the thick side and cut into shapes. Once cut, the biscuits can be held in the refrigerator for an hour or two before baking. Crisps and cobblers work best when the fruit is piled high. For both desserts the fruit is cut into bite-size pieces (1/3-inch-thick slices or 1-inch cubes) and, like fruit pie fillings, tossed with a little flour and a little sugar. Use less sugar for crisp fillings because the crisp topping is so sweet. Tart rhubarb needs quite a bit of sugar, apples need less, and sweet fruits such as peaches need almost none at all. Taste the fruit while you are cutting it and again after it is sugared; you can always add more. The flour thickens the juices that would otherwise be too soupy. It doesn’t take much, a tablespoon or two at the most. A crisp or cobbler is served straight from the dish it has been baked in, so choose an attractive one. Ceramic dishes are best, as metal pans will react with the acid of the fruit. The dish needs to be about 3 inches deep to accommodate a generous layer of fruit. Place the dish on a baking sheet to catch any overflowing juices. Cook until the crisp is dark golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up on the sides; a cobbler’s biscuits should be cooked through and golden. If the crisp topping is browning before the fruit is done, place a piece of foil over the top to protect it. Lift off the foil for the last few minutes to recrisp the topping. Serve right away or put back in the oven to warm for a few minutes before serving. Cobblers and crisps are delicious on their own but are even better served with a little cold heavy cream or whipped cream.

Gloria Linss, grandmother of my editorial assistant, Valeria, was kind enough to provide us with the perfect ratio of sugar and cinnamon to squash for this recipe. She also pointed out that at her house they did not chop the squash; she would literally smash the whole gourd onto the kitchen floor until it broke into pieces. You can keep it old-school and do that, but I suggest you go with a very sharp knife: it makes cleanup easier. For a sweet finish, do as Gloria does and drizzle the squash with chilled evaporated milk before serving. The cold milk is the perfect counterpoint to the extravagantly sweet, melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon-scented squash.

There’s a song I sang as a child with the words: “Arroz con leche, me quiero casar con una senorita que sepa planchar,” which means: “Rice pudding, I want to marry a lady who knows how to iron.” I do not know how to iron, but I think my Mexican rice pudding more than compensates for my lack of certain domestic skills. You’ve got three delectable choices here: Serve this warm, as is done traditionally; serve it cold; or, once it is cold, churn it in an ice cream maker for a scrumptious ice cream, scooped and served on a sugar cone.

This is a decadent and classic Mexican cake that you have to make at least once in your life (and if you do, I guarantee you’ll make it again). A firm-textured cake, it holds up to being soaked in three kinds of milk/cream (hence the name tres leches). Traditionally it’s topped with sweetened beaten raw egg whites, which could be dangerous for small kids and pregnant women, two groups that really enjoy this cake. An Italian meringue, which is made of cooked egg whites, is the perfect solution.