Flour

Use one crust to make the pizza here. Chill the extra dough for up to four days or freeze for up to a month.

There's character to spare in this layered flatbread, called msemmen in Arabic. The dough is rubbed with spiced oil, rolled into a spiral, flattened, and then cooked on a griddle, for a flakiness that's surprisingly substantial. Zadi likes pairing the flatbread with an acidic dish, which is why we recommend it with the <epi:recipelink id="241504"" target="_new">shrimp charmoula</epi:recipelink>; but, as he points out, the bread actually goes well with the entire meal, so plan on leaving it on the table from Start to finish.

Grits are often made with water, but the addition of whole milk—not to mention thick-cut bacon and fried eggs—turns a workhorse into a thoroughbred.

A basket full of freshly baked rolls adds a welcoming touch to any holiday table. Combining the crunch of a cracker with the tender yeastiness of bread, these little numbers are especially fun.

This cake is light as air— and infused with flavor, thanks to a little grated orange peel. A deep, dark caramel sauce and a stunning fruit compote make the dessert dinner-party-worthy. Be sure not to use a pan with a nonstick coating. Because this cake is cooled upside down in the pan, you want the cake to stick to the sides a bit.

This rustic cake gets a zing from a tangy lemon glaze. The sauce dresses up the cake for dessert (or brunch).

Baguette-like loaves make this Irish classic easy to slice, providing perfectly sized portions.

Traditionally served as a coffee cake in El Salvador, "quesadilla" cake isn’t made with tortillas but has a pound-cake-like denseness. The unusual addition of parmesan cheese gives the sweet cake its rich depth.

Protein-rich garbanzo flour can be found at health-food grocers (such as Whole Foods).

For a nutrition boost, replace one of the eggs with 1/2 cup of pureed beans or vegetables. (That's two 2-ounce jars of baby food.)

Butter and cream make these crumbly, tart-spiked treasures rich, moist, and tender.

Pasties are savory turnovers. They originated in Cornwall, England, in the 1700s. During that era, tin miners took the portable pies into the mines for lunch.

A French take on pizza, featuring tapenade, sliced Yukon Gold potatoes, and red pepper, as well as real imported Fontina.

Buttermilk and cake flour are the secrets to the incredibly light texture of this sophisticated cake with its gooey caramel topping. It's baked in a cake pan on a baking sheet to prevent the dates from getting tough.

The technique for shaping this sculptural loaf is very simple, but the result is dramatic. Once baked, the bread resembles a towering cornstalk, and each roll, or "ear of corn," is torn off the stalk by guests. But it's not just the presentation that makes these rolls worth the effort—they've got the hearty exterior of a French baguette, plus a yeasty, slightly chewy interior.

Walnuts are commonly paired with whole wheat, but something pretty great happens when you team them up with tangy rye and bits of sweet sautéed onion instead. A batch of these is especially tasty alongside a platter of your favorite cheeses.