Recipes with milk

French chocolate pots de creme: silky individual chocolate custards made with heavy cream, semi-sweet chocolate, egg yolks, and a hint of Kahlua. The classic French dinner-party finale, no oven required.

Gruiben, German-style pork cracklings rendered slowly from cubed bacon, yielding crisp, golden bits and a pot of pure lard. An old-world, two-ingredient technique for the ultimate savory snack.

Layered leftover casserole with sliced baked potatoes, chopped ham, and a creamy spinach-nutmeg sauce. The smartest way to turn yesterday's dinner into tonight's comfort food.

Earthy and textured, this is great as a snack or at a party. For a party, double this to make 1 large or 2 regular loaves.

Classic three-layer butter cake with rich chocolate icing. Made from scratch with cake flour for an incredibly tender crumb, this is the kind of homemade chocolate cake worth clearing your Sunday for.

Quiche Ole with sharp cheddar and cayenne in a flaky pie shell, topped with a quick Spanish sauce made from green pepper, celery, and onion simmered in ketchup.

Peanut muffins with a hidden jelly surprise: tender peanut-studded muffins baked around a molten pocket of fruit jam and topped with a crunchy peanut sprinkle. PB and J in muffin form, ready in about 45 minutes.

Mardi Gras king cake made from a rich buttery brioche-style yeast dough, shaped into a traditional oval ring, and topped with corn syrup and colored sugar. Hide the baby and let the good times roll.

Raisin-spice cookies made with oatmeal cookie mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, raisins, and chopped nuts. A quick drop cookie with warm holiday spices that makes four dozen in under 30 minutes.

Herbed rice cake baked with cheddar, dill, parsley, onion, and a hit of Tabasco. Cuts into crisp-edged squares that work as a side or vegetarian main.

Old-fashioned raisin bread made with yeast, molasses, and plump raisins creates tender, slightly sweet loaves perfect for toasting.

Big bunch doughnuts make 80 yeast-raised doughnuts from one rich dough of milk, butter, sugar, eggs, and yeast. Old-fashioned recipe for fundraisers, holidays, or feeding a crowd.

Election cake is a yeast-raised colonial American cake with brandy-soaked currants, mace, cinnamon, and lemon. A slow-rising, historically rich sweet bread traced to 1700s New England.

Microwave cranberry orange bread ready in under 15 minutes. Fresh cranberries and grated orange zest pack this quick bread with bright, tart flavor and zero oven time.

Oyster house apple pie with a flaky butter-shortening crust and a pre-cooked spiced apple filling. Old-tavern recipe with a glossy clove-and-cinnamon glaze.

Dense, fudgy unsweetened-chocolate brownies baked in a round pan, topped with chocolate frosting, chopped toffee candy bar, and a crosshatch drizzle of white chocolate. Three treats in one.