Baking

Caffelatte is what Italians of all ages have for breakfast at home. For small children it is a cupful of warm milk lightly stained with coffee, the ratio of coffee to milk increasing with one's years. It is often accompanied by some store-bought biscuits, but not in my assistant Nadia's family. She lives on her father's farm outside Venice with her husband and small boy, and for her son Tommaso she bakes wholesome cakes with fresh fruit. He has some with his caffeelatte and takes another piece to school to eat for merenda, recess. I was particularly taken with the cake Nadia makes when there is no more summer fruit on the farm. She uses pears and apples and always adds a banana she buys in town. The proportions of one fruit to another may vary, and indeed Nadia says they always do, but nothing much can go wrong or affect the cake's plainspoken, engagingly fresh taste.

Bake this at least one day ahead.

Be sure to save a few of these buttery biscuits for mini ham sandwiches the next day.

The torte and compote are each great on their own, if you have time to make only one of them. A kosher-for-Passover sorbet would be nice with this dessert.

The potatoes and yams are perked up with fresh ginger and with lemons.

This cheesecake, a delicious contrast of sweet vanilla and tart cranberry, is a scruptious conclusion to any dinner. Whipped cream rosettes are a pretty finish.

These dramatic cakelike cookies are a New York City favorite — and we think they deserve a wider audience.

The frozen berries aren't thawed before you use them, so this dessert is super fast.

Here's a real treat for the lunch box. Adding dried cherries and chocolate chips turns classic oatmeal cookies into something new.

Honey cake is often served during Rosh Hashanah because honey symbolizes wishes for "sweet" things to come. The cake becomes moister and its flavors deepen a day or two after it's made. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 3 hr (includes cooling)

The pleasingly chewy biscotti are coated on one end with white chocolate. In our test kitchen, imported white chocolate, such as Perugina or Lindt, yielded the best results.

Speculoos, a specialty of Belgium in which flat gingerbread cakes are cut into different shapes, are the inspiration for this recipe. Similar cookies called speculaas are made in Holland, Germany and Austria. These are decorated with melted white chocolate and some pretty red sugar.

(Apricot Almond Cake) Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr