Make Ahead

This is our hands-down favorite way to make mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.

Two Halloween favorites—candy corn and pumpkins—meet in these irresistible blondies.

To learn how to cut endive into long, layered spears for an elegant look.

Silky, with a texture somewhere between pudding and panna cotta—and no water bath required.

A colorful and spicy (but not fiery!) side breaks up all the heavy, rich dishes on the table.

You can also bake this candy bar of a tart in an 8x8" pan, but whatever you do, toast those nuts.

This dark-red mixture will bubble and spit like a vat of lava as it cooks. Okay, slight exaggeration, but really: Cook this in a deep pot, and use a long whisk.

You'll never be tempted to buy packaged again.

You will fight your own relatives for the bits of cheesy goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Parsnip, a vegetable usually roasted or pureed, is crunchy, sweet, and delicious raw. Who knew?

This recipe—a rhapsody for sweet, bitter, and salty—is based on one from Ruth Reichl, published in Gourmet Today.

As much as I like a pavlova, this dessert takes that classic combination and blows it out of the water. Piña Colada Pastry Cream lightened with softly whipped cream, layered with caramelized fresh pineapple, crunchy-chewy French meringue, and crisp strips of toasted coconut is textural nirvana. Searing fresh pineapple in a skillet adds caramel flavor to balance very sweet fruit. This is a showstopper.

Roasting white chocolate was a popular technique a few years back in a lot of pastry kitchens. I don't use white chocolate a lot because it is so sweet, but roasting it first caramelizes the sugar and toasts the milk solids to give it a nutty flavor, like brown butter, that balances its high sugar content.