Recipe Sifter

New Orleans-style French Market beignets: pillowy yeast-raised squares fried golden and buried in powdered sugar. Mix the dough the night before for fluffier, easier-to-handle pastries.

Jewish apple cake layered with cinnamon sugar and sliced apples in a tube pan. A dairy-free oil-based cake with orange juice, perfect for Rosh Hashanah or any fall gathering.

Fruit cocktail cake with a moist sour cream batter spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, studded with canned fruit cocktail. The retro pantry-staple cake from a 1960s Sunday-supper card.

One-crust apple crumb pie with a buttery brown sugar and nut topping over tart apples spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. Freezes unbaked for an easy make-ahead dessert.

Raspberry meringue bars layer a buttery shortbread crust, raspberry pie filling, and a crisp coconut-almond meringue top. Cuts into 48 elegant bars for a crowd. Cookie-tin-worthy holiday classic.

Hearty pecan oat quick bread with brown sugar, mace, and nutmeg baked in cans for a rustic round loaf. A simple stir-together batter that slices beautifully after an overnight rest.

Pear and apricot tart layers fanned pears and apricot halves over almond paste filling in a buttery almond pastry, then glazes with apple jelly. A bakery-worthy fruit tart for special occasions.

Classic French blanquette of veal with cauliflower in a velvety white roux sauce finished with sour cream. Slow-simmered tender veal stew, lightly nutmegged. Serve over rice pilaf or buttered noodles.

Chocolate pecan pie bars with a buttery shortbread crust and a gooey corn syrup filling loaded with chopped pecans and chocolate morsels. All the flavor of pecan pie, no pie dish needed.

Braised lamb shoulder and merguez-style sausages served over couscous with a cumin and cayenne broth. A North African-inspired feast with carrots, zucchini, and white wine.

Solothurner Nusstorte, a Swiss hazelnut torte with piped meringue-nut discs, a buttery sponge layer, and hazelnut buttercream. An elegant three-component European pastry.

Festive lebkuchen cookies made with honey, brown sugar, allspice, and lemon. A traditional German Christmas cookie decorated with white icing.

Black-out cake with unsweetened chocolate buttermilk layers smothered in thick semi-sweet chocolate ganache and pressed with roasted almonds. Intensely rich and fudgy.

Stuffed calves liver roasted with bread stuffing and topped with salt pork strips. A classic Pennsylvania Dutch-style liver roast served with spinach and baked potatoes.

Old-fashioned pot roast braised in a Dutch oven with carrots, onions and a homemade pan gravy. Sunday-supper beef chuck the way grandma made it.

Southern jam cake with blackberry jam, buttermilk, raisins, and pecans baked low and slow in three spiced layers. Topped with a boiled cream frosting that drips down the sides just like it should.