Recipe Sifter

President Roosevelt's birthday cake bakes a deep mocha chocolate cake spiked with cold black coffee and a splash of vinegar for a tender, old-fashioned crumb. A historical White House recipe.

Hearty vegetarian chili with kidney beans, mushrooms, and carrots, deepened with cocoa powder, cinnamon, and mustard seeds. Thick, smoky, and satisfying without any meat.

Finnish sour rye bread with a four-day natural starter, rye and white flour blend, and an egg wash finish. A dense, tangy, traditionally fermented loaf.

Gentle lentil and greens soup with creamy soft lentils, sauteed onions, celery, garlic, and a bright lemon finish. A simple plant-based weeknight bowl that goes from pantry to table in under an hour.

Creamy Italian seafood risotto with shrimp, scallops, shiitake mushrooms, and Roma tomatoes. Arborio rice slow-stirred with chicken broth and white wine until silky.

Soft milk bread made in a bread machine with just six ingredients: bread flour, milk, butter, sugar, salt, and yeast. A pillowy white loaf with a tender crumb and lightly sweet flavor.

Tender buttermilk yeast sticky buns rolled with cinnamon sugar and baked over a pan of melted butter, brown sugar, and toasted pecans. Inverted to reveal a glossy, gooey caramel top.

Authentic curry powder from scratch with toasted cumin, coriander, fenugreek, and black pepper blended with whole cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, mace, and red chile. Homemade Indian spice blend that improves with keeping.

Gingerbread house dough that bakes rock-solid for sturdy construction. Built with shortening, dark molasses, and a generous hit of cinnamon and ginger. Cuts cleanly, holds shapes, makes 5 walls.

Easy Butterfinger pecan cake: chocolate poke cake soaked in butterscotch sauce, topped with whipped topping folded with crushed Butterfingers and pecans. Five ingredients, all crowd-pleaser.

Yam bake a la orange: sliced yams layered with fresh orange, dried figs, and walnuts, drizzled with honey and orange-zest butter. A bright, naturally sweet holiday side without marshmallows.

Peanut refrigerator cake layers coffee-dipped tea biscuits with peanut butter frosting and cocoa, then chills overnight. No baking required. The biscuits soften into moist, cake-like layers.

Lemon-Cheese Babka, an Eastern European yeast bread with a tangy cream cheese and cottage cheese filling, plump raisins and cinnamon-nut crumb on top. A bright, citrusy twist on the classic holiday sweet bread.

Green bean and turkey casserole bakes leftover turkey, green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and cheddar under a layer of mashed potatoes, finished with crispy fried onions. Holiday leftover one-dish dinner.

So good impossible pumpkin pecan pie skips the crust: Bisquick in the batter makes its own as it bakes. A spiced pumpkin custard studded with pecans, topped with spiced whipped cream. Easy, no-roll holiday pie.

Chocolate walnut filled cake bakes a cocoa tube cake with a hidden ring of walnut filling running through the middle. Sugar-replacement-friendly tube pan dessert sweetened with fructose for low-sugar baking.