Vanilla

Candied orange slices top fragrant vanilla-orange cupcakes; a circle of tiny piped buttercream dots frames each slice. Feel free to garnish with other candied citrus, such as lemons or blood oranges.

Pastry cream is the classic filling for French fruit tarts; it can also be folded into other fillings, such as whipped cream or the rich ricotta custard in the Neapolitan Easter Pie on page 253. Like many other custards, it is thickened with eggs and cornstarch; the mixture must be brought to a full boil to activate the starch and set properly. We use a whole vanilla bean, but you can substitute vanilla extract in its place.

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 basic recipe calls for only six ingredients, but the result is rich and creamy and utterly satisfying. Pair it with any of the cookies in this chapter for a righteous ice-cream sandwich or enjoy it simply on its own.

Malt powder enriches these cookies with a creamy caramel and vanilla flavor that calls to mind a malted milk shake at an old-time soda fountain.

The name for these pressed cookies comes from the German word spritzen (“to squirt”); they can be quickly formed with a cookie press. Although they have a very fine crumb, the wreaths are sturdy enough for packaging (see page 342 for a gift idea).

Boiled custard is a southern tradition that has been used for centuries in recipes like banana pudding, pies, and homemade ice cream. It adds the richness and flavor of a pastry cream to every recipe it’s used in, but it’s not as thick.

This recipe is basically the same as the White Cream Decorator Frosting (page 168) except that, because you’re not worried about the icing staying white, you can use milk and regular vanilla extract.

This is a traditional yellow cake. Pair it with Vanilla Icing (page 136), and that’s about as basic as you can get, but you’ll be surprised at what a buttery vanilla flavor it packs. For that reason, the Vanilla Cake/Icing combo is a favorite among both kids and adults. This cake is also a classic match for the Chocolate Icing (page 148), as well as for bolder variations, such as in the following recipes in this chapter.

Twenty years ago this icing was more commonly made with vegetable shortening than with butter. Even now, some grocery stores and lower-end bakeries still use shortening to save money. When the frosting is made with shortening, the sugar is really the only flavor you taste. To enhance the flavors, and because of an overall avoidance of trans fats (which are common in shortening), today at high-end bakeries and at home, butter is more commonly used for the base of this icing. The secret to this simple-to-make butter icing is beating it in a mixer for a good 5 to 8 minutes total, so that it is light and fluffy. Our recipe differs from others out there because it uses far less sugar, but this is still inherently a very sweet icing. In addition, using less sugar results in a naturally more yellow color, so if you want to get a bright white or if you’re planning to tint it a different color, beat the icing in a standing mixer until it is colorless—the more air you incorporate, the whiter it will be. To make our “Sassy” Cinnamon Icing, which pairs well with all of the cakes in the Banana Cake chapter (page 125), just add one tablespoon of ground cinnamon and mix until combined.

This caramel recipe has the right amount of butter and cream to make it nice and chewy but not too sticky. The honey and corn syrup, which also help to give it a chewy quality, are interchangeable in this recipe. If you don’t have any corn syrup, you can use all honey. Likewise, if you prefer the caramel to taste less like honey, substitute more corn syrup for the honey. Be diligent in watching the candy thermometer: If you overcook caramel by just a few degrees, it will become stiff and hard to bite. Likewise, if you take it off too soon, the caramel won’t be firm enough to stand on its own.

This is one of the best cookie doughs to keep on hand in your freezer, especially if you have kids. Whether you are in need of a rainy day activity or a last-minute gift, pulling this dough out of the refrigerator or freezer, prerolled, gives you a solution at your fingertips. The only effort you will need to make depends on how you choose to decorate the cookies. Because this is such a simple cookie, imperfections in the dough will be hard to hide. For that reason, it is especially important to beat the butter and brown sugar until they are completely smooth. Any lumps of either ingredient will cause noticeable imperfections in the baked cookie and make the cookie more difficult to decorate.

This cookie is a simple variation of Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 24). By switching out the chocolate chips for white chocolate and coconut, you get something a little more exotic. Play around with this base cookie dough and change up the flavor with a variety of different mix-ins. This particular recipe goes well with tropical themes or summery occasions.

FRUIT SALADS ARE BEST when based on what’s in season. While the fruit may change, I always use a delicious vanilla syrup that works wonders with any combination. Below is a list of what fruits you’ll find in season that pair well in this salad.

Made in a Bundt cake pan, this half flan, half chocolate cake is a decadent marriage of two dessert classics. The batter for the chocolate cake is made first, then poured into the Bundt pan, followed by the flan batter. The batters may appear to mix but they completely separate while baking, with the flan ending up on the bottom. I like to eat the cake warm, but traditionally it is chilled for 24 hours before serving.

Tequila makes a tangy partner for sweet apricots in this fresh take on ice cream. Although nothing compares to the flavor and texture of ice cream made from scratch, you can take a shortcut and simply fold the tequila-soaked apricots into a half gallon of softened vanilla-bean ice cream from your supermarket.

There’s a song I sang as a child with the words: “Arroz con leche, me quiero casar con una senorita que sepa planchar,” which means: “Rice pudding, I want to marry a lady who knows how to iron.” I do not know how to iron, but I think my Mexican rice pudding more than compensates for my lack of certain domestic skills. You’ve got three delectable choices here: Serve this warm, as is done traditionally; serve it cold; or, once it is cold, churn it in an ice cream maker for a scrumptious ice cream, scooped and served on a sugar cone.

Dates were always around the house for snacking when I was a kid. Now I absolutely love to use them in both sweet and savory dishes. Large, dark-skinned Medjool dates are grown in the United States, Jordan, Israel, and now in Baja! I think they add a whole new dimension to an otherwise classic crème brûlée.

Caffè latte is classic Italian, and for a Sunday brunch it would be the obvious choice over a regular pot of coffee. And while vanilla whipped cream is a small departure from the way you would find it served in any Italian café, it’s a nice way to make the jolt of caffeine a little richer and more special.