American

Store-bought snack cakes can’t compare to these homemade versions: Dark chocolate cupcakes are filled with fluffy marshmallow cream, which is also used to pipe decorations on the tops. Take care not to overfill the hollowed-out cupcakes, or the cream may seep out.

The old campfire classic takes on a new identity as a charming cupcake. Graham flour, available at health-food stores and specialty markets, flavors the cupcake base, which is topped with chocolate glaze and piled high with piped sticky marshmallow frosting, browned to mimic the effects of toasting over a fire.

You will likely make these cupcakes again and again, varying the frosting (say, dark chocolate, page 302) and sprinkles (sparkly, multicolored, or otherwise) to suit your whim or fancy. Two types of flour contribute to the cupcakes’ singular texture: Cake flour makes for a delicate crumb, while all-purpose flour keeps them from being too tender.

Fanciful peaks in a spectrum of shades crown cupcakes with a motif inspired by a vintage Russian cookbook. You could also opt to use just one color of frosting, or leave it untinted. White cupcakes, made with egg whites only (instead of whole eggs), are very light and delicate. For a stronger vanilla flavor, scrape the seeds of one vanilla bean (halved lengthwise) into the milk in step one, and omit vanilla extract.

A well-loved American layer cake is scaled down to cupcake form. Golden raisins give these cakes added texture, but you can omit them. You can also add one cup walnuts or pecans; toast them as directed on page 323, let cool, then finely chop before stirring into the batter at the end, after the flour mixture. Unfrosted carrot cupcakes make delicious snacks.

It’s not so important which vegetables you use in these colorful, nutritious tarts—rather, that there is a seasonal bounty. Here, eggplant, red onion, zucchini, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, kale, and red bell peppers fill cornmeal crusts, but you could easily use green beans, corn, or mushrooms. The crust is light and crisp, with less butter than many pastry doughs. To make free-form versions, spoon filling onto center of each dough round, and fold the edges inward. Serve each tartlet with a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese, if desired. Add a green salad to balance out a healthy lunch.

It’s hard to improve upon a standard, but this recipe for chicken potpie does just that. Each individual serving is topped with a ruffle-edged round of herb-flecked dough. The filling contains all the usual, well-loved components, but the creamy sauce is brightened with lemon zest.

In a season filled with supersweet treats of all sorts, this aptly named tart stands out for its mouth-puckering flavor. Serve it on Thanksgiving or Christmas—it’s equally suited to both holidays. To keep the crust from becoming soggy when the cranberries are added, brush lightly beaten egg white onto the partially baked shell.

Elegantly piped ruffles of whipped cream and a fluted crust make for a decidedly more stylish version of the holiday classic. The velvety pumpkin mousse filling is flavored with all the traditional Thanksgiving spices—ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice—and a healthy dose of brandy for good measure. Graham-cracker crumbs are combined with cocoa powder in the crust.

Facial features for these grinning jack-o’-lanterns are carved from piecrust instead of pumpkins. Chilling the pastry cutouts helps ensure crisp, clean edges, and baking them separately from the tarts keeps them from shrinking into the spiced pumpkin filling.

Single-serving patriotic pies—each slightly different from the rest—are embellished with a host of cutout and appliquéd shapes. Use cookie cutters to make pastry-dough stars in various sizes, and a pastry wheel to cut strips that stand in for stripes; arrange them in whatever patterns you please. Here, a top crust is spangled with tiny star cutouts; a ring of stars frames a bed of blueberries; and stripes and stars suggest the American flag. Red raspberries, sliced strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries in the fillings carry along the Fourth of July color scheme.

A refreshing chocolate-and-mint cocktail was the inspiration for grasshopper pie, a favorite of Southern hostesses in the 1950s and ’60s. It’s just as appealing today, and its green palette makes it a fun and festive choice for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. To make the pie, a crème de menthe concoction is whipped into a cloud of nearly weightless filling and chilled in a chocolate wafer shell. Each slice is topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. This recipe has been updated from the original one, with fresh mint in the filling and shredded sweetened coconut in the crust.

A winning combination of tart and sweet, this county-fair favorite is marked by a tightly woven lattice crust. Sour cherries enjoy a short season—typically a few weeks in late June and early July—so snap them up when you see them, and freeze any extras: Line a baking sheet with parchment and freeze pitted cherries in a single layer. Transfer frozen cherries to a resealable bag; they should keep in the freezer up to one year.

For this woven pie-dough pattern, the spacing of the strips is varied to create a seemingly complex geometric design that is actually no more difficult than a basic lattice. Rum-poached pineapple pieces peek out from beneath the open-weave crust.

This dessert is a specialty of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Chock-full of dark and golden raisins, and flavored with cinnamon, the pie has become a Martha Stewart Living reader favorite since the recipe was first published in the magazine.

The layered finish that tops this apple pie is created by shingling the leaves. Pastry cutouts in any shape can be arranged in this manner; here, a flurry of leaves accentuates the pie’s autumnal nature.

Rather than weaving strips of dough under and over one another, the latticelike design for this pie is formed by cutting squares from a round of rolled-out pâte brisée. The cutouts are arranged around the edge of the pie plate, in overlapping fashion, for a striking frame.

Martha originally created this recipe for a boating picnic in Maine. The tartlets are filled with blueberries, both fresh and preserved. Almond flavors the sturdy crust and the cakelike batter for the filling. Use wild blueberries if you can find them; otherwise, cultivated berries will do—the smaller, the better.

Take all the layers of classic cheesecake—crumbly graham-cracker crust, rich, creamy filling, and fresh fruit topping—and combine them in a modern tart. Sour cream ups the tanginess factor of the filling; almonds round out the cookie crust; and sugar sweetens the plums, which are cooked into a jam. Save some of the cooking syrup for tossing with the blueberries before scattering them over the top.