135 elegant recipes

Fresh raspberries served with silky peach puree, raspberry vinegar, and creme fraiche. An elegant no-cook summer fruit dessert with just 5 ingredients.

French-style almond macaroons piped from almond paste, filled with rum-spiked chocolate ganache, and dipped in a semisweet chocolate glaze. An elegant three-part cookie.

Whole pears poached in apple cider with vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks, then glazed with a reduced spiced syrup. An elegant, make-ahead autumn dessert.

Pureed red lentil soup with bacon and leek, finished with cream and served with poached chicken liver dumplings. A refined European soup with old-world elegance.

Elegant lattice apple pie with orange-scented crust, honey-sweetened Granny Smith apples, and brown sugar crumb topping woven into the filling.

Chocolate-dipped California figs stuffed with walnuts or marshmallows. An elegant no-bake candy with just three ingredients. Perfect for gift boxes.

Brunch pizza topped with soft scrambled eggs, melted mozzarella and fontina, and cold smoked salmon with chives. An elegant weekend project that marries pizza technique with lox-and-bagel flavors.

Macedoine of fresh fruit marinated in rum and orange juice with oranges, apples, pears, bananas, raspberries, and walnuts. An elegant French fruit dessert.

Spectacular French apple dessert with caramelized apples layered in Calvados-soaked brioche, pressed overnight, topped with hot apples for elegant dinner party finale.

This is an easy yet elegant butter-pecan cookie shaped to resemble an acorn and dipped in melted chocolate chips and chopped pecans.

Banana chocolate cream dessert layered over rum-soaked coconut macaroons with homemade custard, whipped cream, and grated chocolate. An elegant no-bake showstopper.

Broiled bananas and oranges drizzled with honey and walnuts, optionally flambeed with brandy. A fast, elegant fruit dessert ready in just 15 minutes.

Chilled avocado soup blends ripe avocados with a lime-and-serrano-spiked stock into a silky, no-cream base, topped with cilantro cream and crisp julienned radishes. A cool, elegant Mexican-inspired starter.

Pears baked in honey with lemon juice, oven-poached until tender and served chilled with a reduced honey syrup. A refined British dessert with just four ingredients and elegant simplicity.

Warm scallop and bell pepper salad with cumin, lime, and coriander on Belgian endive leaves. A light, elegant seafood salad ready in 30 minutes.

Cocoa meringue cake: two crisp cocoa-free meringue disks sandwiched with a mocha-chocolate filling and served in a pool of bright raspberry sauce. An elegant, low-fat dessert showpiece.