Recipe Sifter

Asparagus cornet with lemon dressing wraps puff pastry into golden cones, fills them with crisp-tender asparagus spears, and serves over a homemade lemon-mustard mayonnaise. Restaurant-grade plated appetizer for special occasions.

Old-fashioned beer soup, the German Biersuppe: warm beer whisked with egg yolks, sugar, and butter into a frothy, custardy bowlful. A 19th-century breakfast or supper finished with parsley and paprika.

Flourless chocolate espresso torte for Passover with a full pound of chocolate, espresso, butter, and eggs. No flour or leavening needed. Dense, crackly-topped, and dusted with powdered sugar.

Cocoa chiffon cake made with whipped egg whites, cocoa powder, and a hint of cinnamon. Light as air with deep chocolate flavor, baked in a Bundt pan and finished with powdered sugar.

The classic coconut-pecan frosting for German chocolate cake, cooked on the stovetop with evaporated milk, egg yolks, butter, and vanilla. Thick, rich, and loaded with coconut and chopped pecans. Makes 4 1/2 cups.

Decadent New York-style cheesecake whipped from cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs into a dense, ultra-creamy filling over a graham crust. Baked low and slow, then chilled for clean, rich slices.

An easy to make faux Alfredo sauce. This recipe, on further analysis, is too difficult for a person on crutches.

Dense fudge pecan cake with cocoa, chopped pecans, and a glossy chocolate-cream royal glaze. Baked in a springform pan, chilled until firm, then glazed.

Tortellini pasta salad with blanched broccoli, carrots, leeks, and bell peppers in a homemade balsamic-thyme mayonnaise with orange zest. A colorful, garden-fresh vegetarian salad.

Cream cheese snowflake cookies with lemon zest, topped with powdered sugar icing and edible glitter. Delicate, buttery Christmas cutout cookies that sparkle.

Kleina Kaffee Kuchen, German yeast-risen coffee cakes baked in muffin tins. A buttery, egg-rich dough with cream that rises into tender individual breakfast cakes.

Krumiri: Piedmontese piped butter cornmeal cookies from Casale Monferrato, Italy. Crisp, mustache-shaped shortbread with a distinct golden crunch and subtle vanilla flavor.

No-bake lemon-ginger cheesecake with a gingersnap and vanilla wafer crust, gelatin-set cream cheese filling, and lemon curd swirl. Bright citrus and warm ginger in every slice.

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.

A simple and delicious soup that is easy to make and a great side dish for lunch!

Danish-style marinated salmon cured in beer, sugar, salt, and black pepper for two weeks. Sliced thin and served with homemade asparagus mayonnaise.