Fruit

To neatly and evenly transfer the cake batter to the ramekins, Fleming likes to use an ice cream scoop, but if you don't have one, the batter can just as easily be poured.

Blood oranges are small, sweet, nearly seedless oranges with vivid bright red flesh. They have a slightly floral flavor with berry undertones. Blood oranges are in season from December to June and are available at some supermarkets, at specialty foods stores and farmers’ markets, and from melissas.com.

In this satisfying first course, the sweet-savory filling is wrapped up in a delicious homemade strudel dough. Keep in mind that the dough needs to chill overnight, so start this recipe one day ahead. Serve slices of the strudel alongside the watercress salad .

When purchasing rack of lamb, ask your butcher to remove the chine bone as well as any excess surface fat and to "french" or clean, the rib bones. To create a really flavorful spice coating for the lamb, Hayden recommends using high-quality coffee and dark, strong Valrhona cocoa. For the salad, Fleming likes to use a spicy Tuscan olive oil to give the vinaigrette an extra kick of flavor.

A comforting dessert that's a cross between a soufflé and a cake.

Grapefruit and chocolate make a surprisingly delicious pairing. Star anise adds an underlying spiciness to the tender cookies.

This small, round pasta is named for its resemblance to peppercorns, so why not pair it with black pepper, which, along with lemon, adds brightness to the parmesan?

The difference between fresh and commercially prepared ricotta is proven dramatically with this cheesecake. Made with the commercial product, it tastes bland and somewhat grainy. When prepared with fresh ricotta, however, the cake dissolves creamily on the tongue and the ricotta's delicate sweetness shines through clean and true. To further emphasize the ricotta, we keep the other flavors to a minimum—just a smidgen of cinnamon, lemon zest, and vanilla is all you need.

The kitchen was the domain of Miraglia Eriquez's grandmother, but this recipe was her grandfather's specialty. Sitting at the dining table, Poppy, as he was known, would peel and cut oranges, toss the pieces into glasses, and cover them with red wine. After the oranges soaked up and sweetened the wine, he would eat forkfuls of the fruit, then down the drink. It was—and is—the perfect prelude to dessert.

In these tender, elegant cakes, the Italian dessert wine Vin Santo contributes intoxicating flavor that's played up by the addition of plump grapes.

Store-bought panettone is the foundation of this raisin and bread pudding. Because the bread is so eggy, it bakes into an extra-silky custard that contrasts with a generous expanse of buttery golden brown crispness on top. (Using a shallow pan is key.)

The airy ricotta filling—with chocolate chips and flecks of candied orange peel speckled throughout—makes for a perfect marriage of Italian and American.

Jazz up your winter repertoire with a tangy, colorful pomegranate dressing that melds fennel and oranges with salty Pecorino

This refreshing salad serves as a palate cleanser before dessert. Oltranti updates a traditional Italian-style salad dressing with the modern flavors of California cuisine: Floral Meyer lemon amplifies the acidity of red-wine vinegar in a bright shallot vinaigrette.

This delicacy only tastes decadent—the cake is so low in fat, you can afford to splurge by adding coconut and a luxurious sauce.

Core the fruit from the bottom so that the stems stay intact and the fruit looks whole on the platter.

Dried cherries add a tart and festive flavor.