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Makes 10 tarts. Dark chocolate and salted caramel are a perfect match. Instead of the traditional chocolate ganache, I used a dark chocolate sour cream ganache to balance out the sweetness of the gooey caramel filling. You can make one large tart instead of ten small tarts. For the Crust. Ingredients: Directions: Whip the butter…

Serves 1 as a light meal. This nourishing, creamy soup will warm you up and awaken your senses. Sweet carrots, fresh fennel, and a hint of ginger and spice make this soup healthy and comforting. Serve with wholesome homemade buckwheat buttermilk biscuits for a special touch. For the carrot, fennel and ginger soup. Ingredients: Directions:…

Makes 1 loaf cake. This simple cake with a surprise element is ideal for the holidays and other special occasions. The cake itself is moist and delicious, and the chocolate espresso glaze adds a festive touch. You’ll need to make two separate cakes to make this surprise cake. After the first cake has been baked…

Makes 1 bundt cake. This moist and festive bundt cake incorporates traditional holiday flavors. The recipe calls for dried cranberries, but fresh or frozen cranberries could also be used. It’s incredibly simple to make, but be careful not to overbake it or it will become dry. You could dust the cake with powdered sugar instead…

Yields 80-100 cookies. Lard is used in this recipe, which gives the cookies extra flakiness and that melt-in-your-mouth texture. If you don’t want to use lard, you can substitute butter, but the cookie will have a slightly different texture. Make sure the butter is at room temperature before adding the flour. Add just enough to…

Makes 15 houses or 45 cookies. These tiny gingerbread houses will sit on the edge of your mug, making them a festive way to serve tea (or mulled wine) and cookies. The template includes two door pieces, one approximately 1 cm wide and one approximately 1.3 cm wide. I discovered that the wider door accommodated…

Yields 60-70 sandwich cookies. A classic flavor combination packed into cookies. They’re buttery and deliciously chocolatey, with a refreshing mint aftertaste on the tongue. The cocoa nibs and mint sugar give the shortbread a lovely texture and flavor. They are optional, but they enhance the overall eating experience, so if you have some on hand,…

Serves 4-6. Zabaglione, an Italian egg custard made with dessert wine, usually Marsala, inspired this ice cream. It’s very rich, but it’s also very creamy and delicious. I added raisins to the ice cream and served it with amaretti biscuits for crunch, but those two ingredients are optional. Ingredients: Directions: Allow the raisins and Marsala…

Yields 18 cupcakes. These cupcakes are moist and light, with a delicious chocolate flavor. The chocolate’s intensity is offset by tart red currants, but raspberries or blueberries could be substituted. The recipe calls for strong, hot coffee, which enhances the chocolate flavor. You could substitute hot water for coffee. For the red currant chocolate cupcakes.…

To add interest and contrast, I like to combine summer berries with delicate buttery pastries. They get along so well. You can use whatever berry combination you prefer. The basil sugar in the filling adds a pleasant surprise. The basil doesn’t taste like much, but it adds another layer of flavor and makes the tarts…