Pastries

Every holiday deserves a really special dessert. And this classic French creation — a large ring of airy choux pastry filled with the richest praline pastry cream — does the season proud. If you think it resembles a bicycle wheel, you're right: It's named after an 1891 bicycle race that ran from Paris to Brest and back again, and was the precursor of the Tour de France.

Jennifer Wickes of Pine Beach, New Jersey, writes: "I grew up in Bermuda learning to make English sweets like these scones. You can adapt the recipe to any season by adding a different mix of berries and nuts. This combination is perfect for fall."

Nothing beats buttery sweet rolls fresh from the oven—and you get the pleasure of filling your house with their warm, yeasty scent as they bake.

Amaretti cookie crumbs, sprinkled between layers of phyllo, give lots of satisfying flavor and texture this this apple-cranberry pastry.

Chef Sal Passalacqua of Dimaio Cucina in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, writes: "My father's family is from Sicily and I spent my teenage years there, so that's where a lot of my culinary influences come from. At first glance, Sicilian cooking seems very simple, but that simplicity depends on using the freshest ingredients and often the combination of sweet and tart flavors. The anchovy pasta and the ricotta and mascarpone cream puffs here are perfect examples." These can be served for dessert, tea, or brunch. Mascarpone, an Italian cream cheese, is sold at many supermarkets and at Italian markets.

These make a lovely breakfast or side dish.

Marielle Ainsworth of Roswell, New Mexico, writes: "I'm a vegetarian, but my husband isn't, so I'm always looking for recipes that will make both of us happy. The blueberry-banana muffins here are one of my favorite ways to sneak fruit into his breakfast.
These delicious muffins are packed with oat bran, soy milk, and fresh fruit.

You'll need an instant-read thermometer and a heavy-duty stand mixer with paddle attachment to make this brioche-like sweet bread.

Joe Dion of North Charleston, South Carolina, writes: "Because I work in a restaurant (I'm a chef at a place called Slightly North of Broad in Charleston), I don't let my cooking at home get too complicated. I'm at the restaurant five days a week and often work on weekends, but whenever I have the chance I enjoy getting together with friends and cooking for them." Frozen puff pastry simplifies this dessert.

Rose water lends a subtle floral flavor to the scones; it can be found at some supermarkets, specialty foods stores, and Middle Eastern markets.