429 zest recipes

Old-fashioned mince meat with calf tongue, suet, dried fruit, candied citrus, brandy and whiskey. The traditional pie filling, aged in a crock for at least 7 weeks for deep holiday flavor.

Sesame-almond cookies made with olive oil and white wine, scented with lemon zest, orange zest, and cinnamon. Crisp, not-too-sweet Italian-style biscuits.

Placek swiateczny is a Polish Christmas bread loaded with walnuts, raisins, orange peel, and a splash of vodka. Bake it days ahead for the best flavor.

Christmas stollen with raisins, almonds, walnuts, lemon and orange zest in a buttery yeast dough, frosted with powdered sugar glaze. Make two to three days ahead for best flavor.

Traditional Italian anise pizzelle cookies pressed on a pizzelle iron with orange and lemon zest. A huge batch recipe that makes up to 20 dozen crisp, lacy waffle cookies.

New England apple pie with a butter pastry, crumb topping, and heritage apples like Northern Spy or Rhode Island Greening. Cinnamon and lemon zest brighten the filling, and a two-stage bake browns the crust without burning.

Showstopper cheesecake with a pecan shortbread crust, cranberry glaze layer, white chocolate orange filling, and candied orange slice topping. A stunning holiday dessert that requires overnight chilling.

Flourless chocolate cake made with four kinds of nuts, bittersweet chocolate, and citrus zest, served with honey-glazed grilled orange sections. A Sephardic-inspired dessert.

Whole pears poached in spiced white wine with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, vanilla bean, and citrus zest, served warm with burnt sugar ice cream. An elegant make-ahead dessert.

Plums in Port preserves whole plums in a cinnamon-orange syrup spiked with tawny port wine. A stunning canned fruit for cheese boards, desserts, and holiday gifts.

Tiny fruit turnovers filled with a stovetop apricot-date filling and chopped nuts, wrapped in a lemon-scented cookie dough. Bite-sized pastries for holiday trays.

Geneva pear flan, a Swiss shortcrust tart piled with fresh pears, candied citrus peel, raisins and walnut oil, moistened with white wine and finished with a blanket of baked cream. An old-world tart from the French-Swiss border.

Ginger-carrot bisque: silky pureed carrot soup with fresh ginger, orange zest, and coriander, finished with cream. The elegant first-course soup that converts vegetable skeptics.

A rich, egg-laden yeast bread studded with raisins and scented with anise, lemon zest, and orange zest. Makes 4 fragrant loaves with a tender, golden crumb.

Vegetarian mincemeat with fresh pears, mixed dried fruit, candied peel, glace cherries, dates, almonds, citrus zest, and whiskey. A meat-free version of the British holiday classic.

Banana chocolate marble cake swirls melted semi-sweet chocolate into a moist sour cream banana batter, finished with a glossy orange-scented chocolate ganache.