Nut

This is a delicious, very delicate cake. It's served for dessert everywhere in Charleston, but I like it as a morning cake or afternoon snack. The recipe was named for a small but influential group of French Protestants who fled persecution by their Catholic countrymen and settled lands that became South Carolina more than a century before the Revolutionary War.

Cajeta is a goat's-milk caramel popular in Mexico where it's made into candies or drizzled over ice cream and other desserts. The word cajeta is Spanish for "small box," named for the containers the caramel was traditionally packed in.
Making your own cajeta is worth the extra bit of work, but you can also buy it or substitute its South American cousin, dulce de leche.

If you're using a glass or metal pie dish instead of a deep-dish ceramic pie plate, be sure to keep an eye on the pie. It may cook more quickly. Baking the pie on the bottom rack of the oven ensures a crisp bottom crust.

A V-slicer or mandoline is the perfect tool for thinly slicing the fennel. The fresh apricots add a nice sweetness to the salad, but feel free to skip them if they're not available in your area.

Panna cotta is an Italian custard dessert. It's similar to pudding but is thickened with gelatin instead of egg yolks. This version is a velvety almond custard topped with fresh cherries and a candied almond garnish.

The classic Italian sauce gets an update with the addition of parsley and tarragon.

Trust us, this combination is super-clean and green, refreshing and yummy. The alkalinizing fresh pineapple pairs beautifully with the spice of the arugula/rocket. And macadamia nuts are a high-energy food that adds a crunchy rich texture and a healthy dose of protein and fiber (we don't mind at all if they do not fully incorporate) as well as monounsaturated fatty acids—or "good" fat—that significantly reduce blood serum cholesterol levels. Think of this smoothie as a cleansing, satisfying meal replacement. Get to know chia seeds. These miraculous little seeds are a form of easily digestible protein that is full of minerals, vitamins, and soluble fiber. Rich in omega fatty acids, and similar to flaxseed, chia seeds have the significant advantage of being more stable.

Floating islands are similar to snow eggs but are baked in the oven in a bain-marie (water bath). The dessert can be made in individual portions, as here, or in a large soufflé mold. The bottom of each mold is coated with a caramel finished with butter to keep it a bit softer. The filled molds are then cooked, surrounded by water, in a roasting pan. Some of the caramel adheres to the bottom of the dishes when the floating islands are unmolded, but some of it drips down over the desserts to mix with the custard sauce. The rum-custard sauce is made with fewer egg yolks than traditionally called for in a custard cream. The milk, cornstarch, and sugar mixture is brought to a rolling boil and poured directly on top of the yolks. Because of the small proportion of egg yolks to milk, the temperature of the mixture rises to 180 degrees, ensuring that the lecithin in the egg yolks wil thicken. The sauce doesn't need further cooking and is strained to eliminate any curdled pieces. Here the custard sauce is flavored with rum, but it could be flavored with cognac, bourbon or vanilla instead. Floating islands can be cooked a day or so ahead and kept, covered, in the refrigerator so the tops don't get rubbery. Covering also keeps the dessert moist, preventing the sugar from hardening around the edge of the molds, and thus making the floating islands easier to unmold.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse is an elegant variation on Chocolate Mousse with hazelnut paste. Like Chocolate Mousse, this can be spooned into attractive goblets, topped with a bit of whipped cream, and served as is, or used as a filling for a layer cake. It also can be piped over the cooled Hazelnut Brownies, creating a simple but surprisingly memorable dessert.

If you're lucky enough to have a persimmon tree, you're guaranteed to have plenty of gorgeous persimmons come autumn. Or, if you have a neighbor with one, you're bound to find a bag of persimmons on your doorstep one fall day. The prolific trees are especially striking when the leaves drop and the traffic-stopping bright-orange orbs are still clinging to the bare, gnarled branches, silhouetted against a clear autumn sky. Even if you don't have a tree, or a neighboring one that you can benefit from, you might have seen persimmons at the market. Most likely they were Hachiya persimmons, the most common, elongated-shape variety. It's the one I recommend for this cake. They must be squishy soft before they can be used. If you buy them rock-hard, leave them at room temperature until they feel like water balloons ready to burst. When ready, yank off the stem, slice each persimmon in half, then scoop out the jellylike pulp and purée it in a blender or food processor.

As the tart bakes, some of the beet juice will color the custard and the goat cheese, giving each slice a pretty, almost marbleized look. Since the flavors are a riff on the classic beet, walnut, and goat cheese salad, this tart pairs especially well with greens tossed with a bright vinaigrette. A small slice also makes a somewhat unusual but delicious side dish to grilled lamb chops.

I use a French orange flower water, Vallauris brand, that I brought back from Nice. If your orange flower water is from the Middle East (most often Lebanon) you will need to use more to taste; the Middle Eastern-style is not as strongly flavored as the French version. I also use Athens brand phyllo (it says "fillo" on the box), which comes in a 1-pound container with two separate packages inside. Make sure to use unsalted pistachios. This baklava is actually not at all difficult to make, but take care not to press down on the layers of pastry as you layer and then cut them.

Legend has it that the Bakewell tart was invented in the 1800s in the village of Bakewell. An inexperienced cook made a mistake when putting together a strawberry tart—and ended up with a pie crust with a layer of preserves on the bottom and a soft, cake-like filling. This version uses raspberry preserves, but strawberry would also be delicious.

Here is a jewel of an Afghani dish. It is one I cook regularly, sometimes with shoulder of lamb instead of chicken thighs. I serve it with slow-cooked spinach, finished with leeks and a minuscule amount of rhubarb. This may sound strange, but the rhubarb is sweetened by the leeks and it really does work.

I have always loved a good, cinnamon-scented carrot cake but somehow found the normal cream cheese frosting too rich and too sweet for the cake. Carrots, after all, are sweet enough in their own right. However, this mascarpone topping—sharp textured with lemon and lime zest—contrasts perfectly with the texture and crunch of the carrots and walnuts. Take the path of least—if not no—resistance.

This soup is good and velvety on its own, but the chile butter adds a luxurious crowning touch.

These cozy, warm little desserts are just the sort of thing I like to eat when the weather turns cool. Like most people, I tend to have dessert as an occasional treat, rather than as a regular occurrence; these, however, I find almost impossible to resist. I like to eat them warm and steaming with thick cold cream—and sometimes a spoonful of warm honey, laced with grated lemon and orange zest.