Cake

Take your time when streaming the butter into the egg and sugar mixture—you want to create an emulsion, as when making a vinaigrette. If you go too quickly, you’ll end up with a greasy batter.

In this cake, the natural pectin in the citrus, combined with the sugar, creates a pudding-like upside-down layer that’s similar to a buttery marmalade.

Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice with a tart, lemony flavor and the most beautiful deep red color. More commonly used in savory dishes, its citrus fragrance also works just as well in a sweet cake. The spelt flour gives this vegan number a rustic look and nutty taste, producing a delightfully crunchy crust that hides a soft, moist crumb underneath, with chunks of sweet apple running all the way through.

This is my adult version of cheesecake, full of togarashi. I use it a lot in savory recipes to add spice, but here it gives the cake a sharp, spicy note that helps balance the denseness.

The layer of streusel in this marbled loaf cake gets a complex punch of flavor from a coffee spice blend that includes dried orange peel, cardamom, and fennel seeds.

A pistachio custard filling makes for an enchanting moss-green spiral inside this cardamom sponge cake Yule log.

While brandy is the traditional partner for fruit cake, you could also try using a dessert sherry such as Pedro Ximénez. It’s an intensely sweet, dark sherry made from the Spanish grape variety of the same name. Perfect in festive cakes, puddings and custards, you can find it in liquor stores.

This dairy-free cake hits all the right autumnal notes: it’s earthy thanks to the olive oil, warm thanks to the spices.

Tender, nutty, and studded with caramel-glazed apple halves, this is your new favorite apple cake. Ground nuts bring a toasty, deep flavor and tenderize the crumb by adding fat.

Don’t even think about lifting this cake out of the pan before it’s completely—and we mean completely—cool.