Fruit

In these delicate and unassuming little puddings, the bread rises to the top, leaving a layer of silky custard below. Surround the puddings with a moat of the lively orange sauce.

For reasons that elude me, cakes are reputed to require long hours in the kitchen, when anyone who actually makes cakes knows that cookies are the true time suck. Cookies require measuring out portions and multiple batches. Cakes get mixed up and go into the oven all at once. The most complaisant ones even cool in their pans and require no icing. All of which is why if you look back in the Times archives at recipes from thirty or more years ago, when most people cooked every day, there were many more cake recipes. Cake was a staple you whipped up every couple of days, after the previous one had vanished into crumbs. Teddie's apple cake is a typical standby of the period. None of the ingredients are difficult to find—most are probably already in your pantry. Based on oil rather than butter, the cake has a light, airy crumb that's delicious while it lasts, with walnuts, raisins, and slivers of apple threaded through the cinnamon-scented cake. There is no icing, and no need for it. When I asked readers for their favorite recipes from the Times, this one was near the top, with thirty-seven votes. Like many of the most recommended recipes, it shares three qualities: ease, good flavor, and someone's name in its title. Unfortunately, I still have no idea who Teddie is.

These pumpkin muffins are light and fluffy.

The Shakers, an early nineteenth-century religious group who knew that good things like lemon pie were worth waiting for, lived and worked in communities throughout New England, and established a vibrant Shaker fellowship in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Preserved as a living history museum, today's Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill illuminates their traditions and creations, including woodworking, farming, spinning, and stonework. Their restaurants serve this signature confection, Shaker Lemon Pie.
For those of us who adore lemons, it is magnificent, and if you simply appreciate thrift and culinary creativity, you'll admire its unique approach. The issue is its pithy-ness. Shaker lemon pie uses the entire lemon, from yellow peel through white pith and all the way to the interior seeds. This means slicing two whole lemons absolutely paper thin, and macerating them for hours in sugar. The resulting pie includes a subtle sharp flavor from the pith, and the texture tends toward the chewy side, but it all works for the aforementioned lemon-lovers like myself. For my version, I chop the thinly sliced lemons coarsely, so that despite my uneven slicing, the lemon pieces are bite sized. I also add a little flour, to thicken the juices a bit. Plan ahead, so that you can set the mixture of very thinly sliced lemons and sugar aside for at least three hours and ideally, overnight. This makes for a softer texture and profoundly lemony flavor in your pie.

Sweet, savory and anti-aging! Just one serving meets more than your daily need for vitamin A, which keeps skin aglow.

This sweet-tart relish has 7 fewer grams of sugar than the canned kind, and it supplies disease-fighting antioxidants.

It's hearty and health-helping: Eating mushrooms regularly may help lessen women's breast cancer risk.

The technique: Simply roll out the dough, mound the pear filling in the center, and fold the edges of the dough up and over the edge of the filling, creating free-form "sides" to hold in the fruit.
The payoff: No pressure, no crust anxiety. Just loosely shape the dough for a rustic and beautiful Thanksgiving dessert. Using unpeeled pears in this dessert saves time—and adds texture.

The technique: In this recipe, we started with purchased rosemary-olive bread, a single ingredient that's packed with flavor. Fennel, Speck, and raisins round out this super stuffing.
The payoff: There's lots of cooking to be done on Thanksgiving, so why not save yourself some work? Speck—lightly smoked, cured pork—adds a rich flavor to the stuffing.

The technique: Any dish that's topped with breadcrumbs or cheese and then browned is considered a gratin.
The payoff: Layers of flavor and texture and a way to transform almost any vegetable into something special.

The technique: For crisp-tender vegetables, boil them quickly, then dump them into a bowl of ice water.
The payoff: The rapid boil cooks the veggies just enough; the ice water stops the cooking and intensifies the color of the vegetables.

The technique: To create a lattice top, roll out the dough, then cut it into strips. Make the lattice by draping half the strips in one direction across the filling, then draping the other half in the opposite direction, or weave the strips over and under for a classic basket-weave pattern.
The payoff: A professional-looking dessert that's sure to impress your guests. A perfect Thanksgiving treat for berry pie lovers.

The technique: When cooked at a high heat, some vegetables take on a deep, nutty flavor and golden brown color. In this recipe, the sugars in the pomegranate molasses enhance the caramelization process.
The payoff: Caramelized vegetables have that addictive sweet-savory taste and a lovely sheen.

The technique: Streusel—a crumbly mixture of flour, butter, sugar, and spices—often shows up on coffee cakes. The sweet, crunchy stuff also makes a great pie-topper.
The payoff: You have to roll out only one pie crust instead of two, and the streusel adds texture and flavor.

The technique: To show off the tangy freshness of cranberries, don't cook them at all. The payoff: Chopping the berries in the processor gives them a coarse texture, which is great alongside the turkey and the trimmings. Plus, the recipe comes together in 20 minutes.

The technique: No measuring, no mixing— just roll out puff pastry, trim to a circle, and transfer it to the pan. If you can find all-butter pastry, it's worth using here because of its superior flavor and texture.
The payoff: It couldn't be easier to use—or more flaky and buttery.

These individual desserts have a spiced fruit filling that's a modern version of mincemeat.