Baking

"One thing I cannot get out of my head" said Ben Moskovitz, owner of Star Bakery in Oak Park, Michigan. "Was the food better growing up in Czechoslovakia or were the people hungrier there? My mother made a honey cake for the holiday, and it was so delicious. Honey was too expensive for us, so my mother burned the sugar to make it brown. Here I use pure honey, but I still think my mother's cake was better and I know I am wrong. The taste of hers is still in my mouth." Mr. Moskovitz's European honey cake follows, with a few of my American additions. Other European Jewish bakers interviewed for this book also bake with white rye flour and cake flour when we would use all-purpose flour. I have included both choices.

Chewy, candy-like caramel cookies enhanced with orange and crystallized ginger. The leftover orange sugar syrup is a delicious sweetener for hot tea.

Toasted sesame seeds and sautéed green onions add zip to these moist muffins. Serve them on their own or with butter and honey.

Recipes for this dessert, also known as chocolate upside-down cake and hot fudge pudding cake, turn up in cookbooks published by women's clubs and church guilds all around the Midwest. The cake separates into layers as it bakes, making its own sauce.

This updated version of France's Christmas classic features orange mousse in a chocolate sponge cake roll and a decadent garnish of chocolate truffles. Kumquats and festive greenery add even more glamour.

Much richer than the average cookie, these treats start with a brownie crust, which gets filled with a luxurious mocha cheesecake mixture. The whole thing is finished off with a sour cream topping and then cut into bars. Be sure to bake the crust and filling a day before serving the bars.

If you're short on time, you can skip the white chocolate decoration.

This is the chocolate lover's dream dessert: rich, creamy and intensely flavored.

Beer gives a yeasty flavor to this quick bread made without yeast. Slices of the bread are good toasted or sandwiched around a filling of choice.

Christmas cookie baking starts Thanksgiving weekend for one food editor. Together with her mother, she makes family favorites like the buttery balls below.