Berry

In our house, where nothing goes to waste, you can bet that bread pudding is a highly esteemed dessert. This is a simple, delicious version (with a new twist that I just discovered). It is great in summer with any fresh berries—and frozen berries work fine the rest of the year. I like to use blueberries because they remain whole—especially small wild ones. I also like raspberries and other soft berries, precisely because they melt into the pudding and leave bursts of flavor where they baked. So you can experiment: firm strawberries would be nice, cut up, as would other semifirm fruits, like ripe pears. I would avoid very juicy fruits, though. I like white breads for pudding, but, as with the Peach Lasagna (following recipe), it should be a hearty homemade or country white bread, not sourdough. I don’t like sour breads in general, and certainly not for desserts. But when we were testing recipes in Vermont, we had only day-old bread that was a bit more sour than I liked, and that prompted me to develop a new twist on the recipe. There was a jug of maple syrup on the kitchen counter at my editor Judith’s house, and I decided to balance the sourness by drizzling the bread with syrup and toasting it in the oven to sweeten and caramelize it lightly. As I am sure you will agree when you taste the pudding, it’s worth using the maple syrup whether your bread is sour or not.

If you haven’t cooked quince before, this is a good way to start. The sauce is tangy, not overly sweet, and because the fruit pieces tend to stay intact when cooked, you will enjoy the distinctive taste and texture. Though it is not as sweet as cotognata (the quince sauce that follows), you can enjoy it in many of the same ways, such as spooned onto buttered toast or stirred into a bowl of yogurt, for a tangy snack.

“Terrine” is the name given to a specific mold commonly used in French cuisine, but its definition has changed over time. I like to play around and use different molds shaped like triangles, ovals, and rectangles. I love the vibrant color of the hibiscus flower and I think its tart flavor complements many other fruits. I chose these particular flavors because they go quite nicely together and because I’ve always thought different shades of one color suggest a subtle elegance.

Niño envuelto means “wrapped baby,” and it is basically a sponge cake filled with some kind of jam, cream, cajeta, or mousse, rolled up tightly, and covered with confectioner’s sugar, cream, coconut, almonds, chocolate, or meringue. It is served as a dessert, but you can also find it in panaderías sold in slices. Although I have always loved sweets, cake has never been my favorite dessert, and I think it’s because I really like crunchy things. The one exception to this rule is pastel de fresas con crema (vanilla cake filled and covered with whipped cream and strawberries). When I think about this cake, my mouth waters and I remember the Gran Via bakery, which has been making one of the best versions of this cake since the late 1960s. When the bakery first started, they sold only two things: this strawberry layered cake and huge meringues filled with whipped cream. So, when deciding what kind of niño envuelto to make, it seemed only natural to blend all of these flavors and textures into one. It is important that the eggs be at room temperature to ensure a spongy cake, so separate the eggs, cover them, and allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before whipping.

When we were little, my sister Yael and I would often hang out with our aunts Cucus (her real name is Lina, but I don’t think we knew that back then) and Alex. They liked to take us to the parque España, one of the few parks in Mexico City, and I always made sure to ask my mom whether she needed us to drop off or pick up anything from the dry cleaner, which was only a few blocks away from the park. I was such a good daughter. . . . Truth be told, there was an ulterior motive. Across the street was a wonderful bakery, and I would always get strawberry jelly–filled doughnuts with a sugary topping. Invariably, I would squirt jelly all over myself and get my aunts in trouble, because my mother warned them not to give us sweets too often. The bakery, unfortunately, no longer exists, but my memory of what those doughnuts tasted like still does—even though the last time I had them was almost two decades ago. They are a bit time-consuming to make but well worth the effort. You can substitute the jam for a store-bought kind, but if you happen to be making these during strawberry season, I highly suggest you give it a try because it is quite easy and absolutely delicious!

You can find all sorts of corn flour (masa harina) in Mexico, and their colors can seem almost fake. The best place to find them is the food mills, and they are commonly found near markets. Whenever I can, I like to make this dish with pink or blue corn because it enhances the color in a natural way and it somehow seems more fun.

The word atole comes from atl, “water,” and tlaoli, “ground corn.” These beverages have been consumed since pre-Hispanic times and the variations are countless. Made with water, milk, or a combination of the two, and commonly thickened with masa, the beverage is also made with ground toasted corn, fermented corn, rice, oatmeal, fresh corn, or mature corn cooked in ashes. It is sweetened with sugar and/or piloncillo and often mixed with fruit. This drink is enjoyed with sweet tamales early in the morning or at night. This atole is very popular in Michoacán, and I want to thank Ernesto Hernandez Doblas for the recipe.

GINA This is not your off-the-shelf variety of cranberry sauce, although that can work in a pinch (remember my emergency run to the store during my first Thanksgiving at Mama Neely’s?). In this recipe I’m talking sweet, zesty, spicy, and savory: you don’t know whether to slow-dance or cut a jig. I say mix it all up, just like the relish, and let it go.

Easy to transport and to eat while unpacking, these moist and dense muffins are more like little pound cakes with blueberries than your typical crumbly muffin. If blueberries are out of season and you want to use frozen ones (a perfectly fine option!), increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

PAT One of the things I truly love about Gina is that she is so creative when it comes to beverages. This lemonade is as sparkling, stimulating, and sexy as my darling wife. The seltzer water gives this refresher a great bubbly taste. Gina uses raspberries, but you can substitute any fruit you love and you’ll still be singing, “Oh, happy day!”

PAT I guess you could say I developed a love of ice cream because of my grandmother. For her, only homemade would do, and her homemade was some of the very best. Her fresh strawberry ice cream was one of my favorites. It so happens that Father’s Day falls smack in the middle of strawberry season—and don’t you know it, Grandma, I’m taking a page from your playbook. There’s something about fresh strawberries and cream, and when you spoon out a mouthful of this ice cream, you’ll see what I mean. The best thing about this recipe is that you can make more and have some for the day after Father’s Day. The sweetened condensed milk makes this a creamy, very soft, and scoopable ice cream.

Ladies, this is my go-to drink on a warm summer day. And don’t you know, men love it, too (even though it’s pink!). It’ll satisfy any thirst you may have worked up, but go easy, because even though it may taste like Hawaiian punch, it packs a wallop!

Memphis in May kicks off the barbecue season, but it also kicks off the summer season, so blueberry pie fits right in. We like to take this pie down to the river for the Sunset Symphony and slice it up for our neighbors among the picnic blankets.

The peach nectar, lemonade, and sparkling wine—ooh, it just makes me tingle all over! And believe me, this is a night when you are going to need all the tingling you can get.

GINA The Cubans had the right idea when they invented the classic mojito: it really is a perfect cocktail (not too sweet, not too sour). Another great thing about mojitos is that you can add almost any flavor to them and they taste amazing. I was experimenting with mojitos, creating a brown-sugar one, and I thought, why not blackberries? I’ve always been a fan of blackberries: I even like to eat them frozen right out of the freezer. (I do the same thing with grapes.) The infusion of mint and basil gives this version an herbal freshness, and the agave nectar is a gentle, natural sweetener that dissolves quickly. Of course, you can leave out the rum and just pour some soda water on top of the berries, but why would you? Either way, the drink is a beautiful spring color, and spring is my favorite season, when everything is blooming, and life’s possibilities seem endless.

This is an Italian classic, with a twist. Traditionally made with Marsala, I like to vary it by using Viognier, or even prosecco, as we do here. The wine adds a dimension to the custard and marries well with the sweet berries. If you don’t have a kitchen torch, skip the step where you sprinkle on the sugar and simply serve the custard spooned over the berries. If you use the broiler instead of a torch, the custard will get too soft.