Christmas

One simple master recipe, based on a classic French pain de mie, proves endlessly changeable—feel free to think of the five suggestions that accompany it here as merely a start, and let your imagination take it from there.

Store-bought caramel sauce and frozen puff pastry are the secrets to a showstopping Thanksgiving dessert that you can make in under an hour.

Yes, you can buy just a turkey breast for this recipe. And when you cook it without the rest of the bird, you eliminate all those whole-bird problems. This goes great with Cornmeal Bao With Turkey and Black Pepper Sauce.

The spirit of a Key lime pie in the guise of a luscious cranberry curd. The contrast between the snappy press-in crust and the tart filling in this recipe is pure genius.

You can soak toasted mustard seeds for this recipe, but you'll get a similar pop of texture simply by using whole grain mustard.

Baking the potatoes for this recipe is a completely hands-off cooking process that also reduces some of the water content in the spuds, resulting in the easiest and most flavorful mash of all time.

Cooking the brussels sprouts in two stages for this recipe ensures that the cores will be tender and the outer leaves will still have bite.

If you’ve ever asked if mashed potatoes can be cooked ahead, the answer is this recipe. The texture is like that of a twice-baked potato.

This comforting savory pie is packed with kale and pan-roasted butternut squash.

Separate cooking techniques for breast and legs in this recipe ensure that the different cuts reach their most delicious potential. Cutting the raw turkey into parts is the only challenge here; if possible, ask your butcher to do it for you.

This figs recipe is sweet, salty, sticky, and acidic—everything you want in a one-bite appetizer.

It’s important to follow the measurements for the salt and to use a low-sodium stock (or, better yet, a homemade one) for this recipe—otherwise, the gravy could wind up being too salty.

Traditionally, baklava is a Middle Eastern dessert, but we fell head over heels for this savory rendition. Roasting coaxes out the earthy magic in hearty root vegetables and fennel, which are then tossed with fresh dill and baked in walnut-layered phyllo until it's golden brown.

Make Perfect Turkey Gravy every time.

This fresh new take on classic horseradish sauce makes a lot, but you’re going to want extra. It’s the perfect companion for both our Porcini-Rubbed Beef Rib Roast and our Crispy Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes.

Capture the holiday spirit with this warm spiced cake, packed with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove.

Making Stollen is not for the faint of heart. Avoiding it altogether because excellent store-bought Stollen abounds is further abetted by the invention of Stollenkonfekt, bite-size chunks of spiced, tender Quark dough studded with almonds and raisins and thickly cloaked in vanilla-scented confectioners’ sugar. They may be a relatively recent development in the world of Christstollen, which dates back to the Middle Ages, but they more than make up for their youth. In other words, want the rich, buttery, spicy flavor of Stollen without the work of a yeasted dough and the weeks of impatiently waiting for the loaves to be ready? If so, Stollenkonfekt is the thing for you.