Sour Cream

By its very nature, a Pavlova is a little wild—as proved by these three tiers of airy meringue, which crack and crumble to reveal marshmallowy interiors while the berries' juices puddle all over drifts of whipped cream. And that playful mix of textures and flavors sure tastes delicious. Meringues aren't usually made with moist brown sugar, but here it adds a deeper kind of sweetness. Baking them in cake pans, another unusual technique, helps these meringues crisp up.

You'll want generous scoops of tangy richness with both the honey caramel peach pie and the plum-blackberry streusel pie , or all by itself. The ice cream is as blissful to prepare as it is to eat: Just purée everything in a blender, then freeze in an ice cream maker.

This recipe originally accompanied Baja Fish Tacos .

A crème fraîche custard is folded into the mixed-fruit filling of this elegant nectarine-blackberry crisp.

This salty, savory nibble is perfect with the sparkling cocktail. A garnish of crispy shallots adds just the right amount of crunch.

Zabaglione is a light, foamy custard. In this elegant dessert, the warm Grand Marnier-spiked custard is spooned over fresh strawberries just before serving.

The beans need to soak overnight, so be sure to start this recipe one day ahead.

The dip gets better the longer it sits, so make it a day ahead.

Tofu noodles replace pasta, so you don't need to boil water. Plus, this comforting dish offers nearly one third of your day's calcium, via the yogurt and broccoli.

Thick-cut seasoned potatoes can be roasted along with tortilla chicken drumsticks . The mayonnaise works as a zesty dip for both, so you may want to double the amount.

This recipe wasn't created, per se; it was a happy accident. One of our new (though lovely) bakers was working on a tray of brownies and pulled them out too early from the oven. They were too underdone for sale, so we cut some out, pressed them into the bottom of a springform pan, and used them as the base of our cheesecake. It has been on our menu ever since.

Ground ginger and crystallized ginger amp up the flavor of the cake; fresh ginger adds a spicy hit to the fresh strawberries. The Bundt pan is coated with raw sugar before the batter is added, giving the cake a sparkly crust.

Traditionally served as a coffee cake in El Salvador, "quesadilla" cake isn’t made with tortillas but has a pound-cake-like denseness. The unusual addition of parmesan cheese gives the sweet cake its rich depth.

Rich, thick Greek yogurt cloaks balsamic-scented blackberries for a refreshing, lower-fat brûlée.

The gjetost or brown goat cheese in this recipe is not made from milk but from whey that is cooked until caramelized. It is also known as fudge cheese, and a version called Ski Queen can be found in many American markets. Lars Tyssebotn's brown goat cheese makes this dish one of my favorites.

A comfort food menu just wouldn't be complete without something fried. In this addictive appetizer, slices of cooked artichoke are mixed into a beer batter and then dropped into bubbling oil.

Grimes spent hours exploring Nagyvásárcsarnok, Budapest's largest indoor market hall, where he discovered all kinds of cured and jellied meats, pickled vegetables, and a virtual hanging garden of sausages. This magnificent cold layered terrine, which requires almost no cooking, was inspired by that bounty. Horseradish and sour cream, so abundant in central European cooking, complement the beets and the tongue's smoky richness. The success of this dish depends largely on using good-quality borscht such as Gold’s Russian Style (avoid brands containing high-fructose corn syrup).

Be sure to use wild smoked salmon, preferably from Alaska.