Recipe Sifter

Chocolate fruitcake with cocoa, candied cherries, pecans, golden raisins, and mixed dried fruit, topped with a semisweet chocolate-almond glaze and toasted almonds.

Apple crunch muffins with shredded unpeeled tart apple baked in and a brown sugar pecan crunch topping. Best served hot from the oven with butter and jam.

Baked mostaccioli and ground turkey casserole layered with tomato sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a light bechamel topped with mozzarella. Greek pastitsio meets weeknight dinner.

Pastitsio with layered macaroni, seasoned ground beef in tomato-wine sauce, and creamy bechamel topped with kefalotiri cheese. A traditional Greek baked pasta casserole.

Old-fashioned brown sugar drop cookies with cinnamon, clove, and orange zest, studded with raisins and chopped nuts. A German-style spice cookie that yields five dozen.

An instant favorite, these dessert bars are full of flavor!

Garlic stuffed mushrooms with pecans, parmesan, and a folded-in roasted garlic bechamel, baked hot until the filling sets and the tops blush with cayenne.

Vinegar cake is an old-fashioned chocolate layer cake leavened with baking soda and vinegar instead of baking powder. Sour milk and unsweetened chocolate create a moist, tangy, deeply chocolatey crumb.

Streuselkuchen: the classic German yeast-risen crumb cake topped with a buttery brown-sugar cinnamon streusel that bakes into a thick, craggy crust. The German bakery favorite for kaffee und kuchen.

Showstopping cranberry orange holiday wreath bread filled with cranberries, orange segments, pecans, and bran, drizzled with vanilla glaze. A festive yeast bread centerpiece for Christmas brunch.

Herbed biscuit egg bake lines a pan with a thyme-rosemary biscuit crust, then fills with eggs, sauteed onion, broccoli, and sharp cheddar. Brunch quiche-meets-biscuit casserole baked golden in 40 minutes.

Cream of crab soup with sherry, cooked gently in a double boiler with shallots, egg yolk enrichment, and a dollop of whipped cream. A refined, silky bisque-style soup for special occasions.

Traditional Irish brown bread with whole wheat flour, buttermilk, and baking soda. No yeast needed, just knead, shape into rounds, score with an X, and bake until crusty.

Low-fat whole wheat banana cake uses honey, canola oil, and whipped egg whites for a light, tall tube cake with real banana flavor. A lighter banana cake that doesn't sacrifice texture or moisture.

Buttermilk walnut bundt cake baked over a brown sugar and Karo syrup topping with whole walnuts. A sticky-bottomed cake with a tender, airy crumb from whipped egg whites.

Oatmeal peanut butter drop cookies with plumped raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla. A hearty, old-fashioned cookie packed with oats and peanut butter flavor. Makes 3 dozen.