Recipe Sifter

Buttery shortbread sticks with ground almonds baked into the dough and a crunchy almond-sugar topping. These elegant little cookies snap with a satisfying crumble and make 3 dozen in under an hour.

Greek baklava with buttery cookie dough rolled around spiced nuts and phyllo, soaked in honey-lemon syrup for layers of crisp pastry and rich almond filling.

Pecan tarts with caramel sauce: flaky homemade pastry shells filled with a brown-butter pecan filling, baked golden, then drizzled with silky amber caramel. Individual holiday tartlets worth the effort.

Summer blueberry tart, a French-style dessert with a buttery pate brisee crust and a filling that's half cooked blueberry glaze, half fresh berries, for vivid flavor and a clean slice. Lovely with creme fraiche.

Whole wheat sour cream pancakes with separated eggs for extra fluffiness, sweetened with honey. Tender, tangy weekend breakfast pancakes that aren't dense or dry.

Traditional Austrian Topfenkuchen with a buttery pastry base and airy cottage cheese filling scented with lemon zest, topped with raisins and almonds. A classic European cheesecake baked into elegant squares.

Light-as-air banana chiffon cake with tangy cream cheese frosting. Ripe bananas meet fluffy egg whites for a moist, tender crumb that melts on your tongue.

Six layers of indulgence: buttery shortbread crust, from-scratch vanilla pudding, cream cheese mousse, crushed pineapple, caramel drizzle, whipped cream, and a chocolate glaze zigzag on top.

Authentic Pennsylvania Dutch shoo fly pie with a deep molasses filling and spiced brown sugar crumb topping with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. A true wet-bottom pie from the Amish tradition.

Classic lobster Thermidor: tail meat folded into a sherry cream sauce with cheddar and mushrooms, piled back into the shell and broiled with Parmesan and paprika.

Slice-and-bake coconut refrigerator cookies with a coconut-crusted exterior and a pecan half on top. Crispy, buttery, and freezer-friendly for up to three months of fresh-baked cookies on demand.

Chocolate cake with almonds baked in a spring form pan.

Sea scallops poached in court bouillon, bathed in a Gruyere cream sauce with mushrooms, and piped with a golden mashed potato border. The full classic French presentation.

Low fat lemon pudding cake separates as it bakes into a tender sponge top and silky lemon-curd bottom. Light dessert with skim milk and only one tablespoon of fat.

Cream cheese butter cookies with a raspberry jam thumbprint. Tender, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread enriched with cream cheese. No leavening, no spreading.

Americanized version of Maggie Beer's recipe I saw on Masterchef Australia 2011 the other day.