197 cracked recipes

Roasted Cornish game hens slathered with ginger-five-spice butter and stuffed with lemon and onion. Crackly, fragrant skin and a white-wine pan sauce for an elegant dinner.

Basler Brunsli are flourless Swiss chocolate almond cookies spiced with cinnamon and cloves, cut into festive shapes. A traditional Basel Christmas cookie, chewy inside with a crackly crust.

Raspberry and fig gratin with sour cream and broiled brown sugar crust. Four ingredients, 15 minutes, and the caramelized sugar cracks like creme brulee over warm fruit.

Almond praline bell made from toasted ground almonds and honey-sweetened hard crack candy, shaped in a mold for a stunning edible centerpiece. A classic showpiece confection.

Gaslight Restaurant peppercorn dressing with Parmesan, cracked black pepper, garlic, Worcestershire, and hot sauce in a mayo base. A bold, restaurant-style dressing you can make at home.

Mom's peppered ham: poached ham shank coated in cracked black peppercorns and dried in a low oven for paper-thin deli-style slices. Old-school deli cooking at home.

Classic Italian amaretti cookies made with almond paste and egg whites, piped and baked until golden with a crackly crust. Just three core ingredients for crisp, chewy almond flavor.

A lighter peach brulee: ripe sliced peaches with orange juice, blanketed in tangy Greek yogurt and topped with a crackly broiled-sugar crust. The flavors of creme brulee with a fraction of the work.

Southern chocolate chess pie: a one-bowl classic with butter, cocoa, sugar, eggs, and a touch of cornmeal in an unbaked pie shell. Crackly sugar top, fudgy interior.

Halloween popcorn crunch: popped corn, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and banana chips coated in hard-crack vanilla caramel. The fall snack mix that puts caramel corn to shame.

Chewy peanut butter cookies loaded with ground and whole sesame seeds, brown sugar, honey, and a warm ginger kick. Rolled in raw sesame seeds for a nutty, crackly coating.

Homemade vanilla custard ice cream topped with a deep morello cherry sauce simmered with lemon, vanilla bean, and the cracked cherry stones for almond-scented depth. Old-world Italian dessert work.

Truffle fudge cheesecake with 24 ounces of melted chocolate chips blended into a triple cream cheese filling on a cocoa-vanilla wafer crust. A dense, intensely chocolatey no-crack cheesecake.

Soda cracker pie is a vintage Southern meringue pie made with whipped egg whites, saltine crumbs, and pecans. No crust, no flour, just a crackly meringue that tastes like toasted pecan candy.

Vanilla bean creme brulee tartlets, silky custard set in a crisp buttery pastry shell and finished with a torched, crackly caramel top. Crowned with whipped cream and fresh berries for an elegant dessert.

Iced Jazzberry Java blends pureed raspberries with cold coffee and half-and-half over cracked ice. A fruity, creamy iced coffee drink topped with whipped cream and fresh mint.