Food Processor

This easy dessert has it all: chocolate cookie crust; rich, creamy filling; and a glistening tumble of berries on top.

Tender cake, creamy filling, crunchy nuts, and tangy–sweet kumquats add up to one glam holiday dessert.

Serve with chopped celery leaves and horseradish mixed into sour cream. Look for panko at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of supermarkets.

Make the fritters a day ahead, then fry them quickly before serving. What to drink: A crisp white with citrus and herb flavors would be perfect; try the Jim Barry 2006 "Silly Mid On" Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon blend (Australia, $17).

Yule log meets that New Orleans classic, bananas Foster, in a make-ahead dessert.

Epicurious asked chef Tom Colicchio for this recipe from 'Wichcraft, the sandwich shop in his growing collection of Craft restaurants. It's the perfect way to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey — and a good excuse to roast a turkey any time of year. To create those leftovers, try Tom Colicchio's Herb-Butter Turkey.

Kutia This lightly sweetened pudding is the first of 12 traditional dishes served on Christmas Eve in Eastern Europe. Countries such as the Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania each have their own version, sometimes chilled, sometimes served as a warm porridge. (The dish used to be a tradition in Russia as well, but because of the communist Soviet Union's official atheism, it has become extinct there.) Our version is based on the baked Ukrainian style, which is traditionally made with wheat berries, which require overnight soaking and long cooking. For convenience, we've substituted quick-cooking barley, which packs the same nutty-chewy punch. For the best results, prepare the pudding a day ahead: Let it cool, cover it, and chill it overnight to let the flavors meld. Serve it chilled, plain or sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar.

Amaretti According to legend, in the early 1700s, a Milanese bishop made a surprise visit to the town of Saronno in Lombardy. A young couple paid tribute to the bishop by welcoming him with their unique homemade cookies, made from crushed apricot kernels and almonds, egg whites, and sugar. The bishop so loved the cookies that he blessed the couple, and the recipe became a local favorite. Today, bakeries throughout the region, and in Italian communities around the world, carry amaretti di Saronno, but it's worth the (small) effort to make them yourself. The recipe is simple, and fresh from the oven, they have a crisp-yet-tender texture that's beyond compare.

Broiling tomatoes and onions concentrates their flavor in this spicy salsa that's good any time of the year.

We like to bake this lightly spiced bread, filled with bits of flavorful candied fruit, in small loaves — perfect for gift-giving. Mild honey lends sweetness, while molasses adds notes of caramel.

Surprise your party host with a jar of this ruby-red jelly — its sweet heat flavors pair beautifully with soft cheeses.

A balance of savory and sweet, this wonderful combination can also be presented more casually; the pork tastes just as good when the slices are simply served on a platter with the sauce on the side.

This vegetarian pâté, satisfyingly rich with a silky texture, will entice even the most die-hard carnivores. If you're not worried about keeping it vegetarian, you can substitute an equal amount of unflavored gelatin for the agar flakes.

Dainty pink cookies sandwiched together with a silky ganache look as if they belong on a restaurant's petits fours plate. In fact, the perfect little rounds can be made with a makeshift pastry bag.

Typical gingersnaps lean toward the soothingly plain; these are the opposite of that, spicy with chewy crystallized ginger and aromatic with Chinese five-spice powder. Left unadorned, the cookies will continue to crisp over time; iced, they become softer and more cakey.

These classic rich, chewy cookies crack — or, yes, crinkle — as they bake. Hazelnuts, cocoa, and chocolate come together to make them particularly potent.