The traditional French Christmas log exists in many variations of flavor and presentation. I like this one because the chocolate cake and coffee buttercream are not an excessively sweet combination. Also, the marzipan decorations can be prepared well in advance.

These are fragile and buttery and easy to pipe because the dough is rather firm. The dough is also fine for putting through a cookie press if you have one. These cookies don’t need to be finished off with anything before or after baking, but you can dust them lightly with cocoa powder, sprinkle them with sprinkles, or place a quarter of a candied cherry, an almond slice, or a chocolate chip (flat side up) in the center of each before baking.

The sweet, mellow flavor of Bourbon has a great affinity for chocolate and pecans.  Serve this unadorned cake with a little unsweetened whipped cream or top with the easy chocolate frosting below.

A gateau Breton is a wonderful French cake, very much like a very dense pound cake, and is a specialty of Brittany. This non-traditional version of it adds a layer of a cooked apple filling between layers of the dough.

The is the easiest and best-tasting sponge layer you can imagine, and since it’s baked in two pans, you won’t need to slice through it to make a layer cake. Thanks to my friend Kyra Effren, one of the world’s great bakers, for sharing this recipe.

Gingerbread’s long history pretty much concludes in the British Isles, where it is a standard. This is an adaptation of a 1940s British recipe.

This has nothing to do with the typical Viennese strudel made from dough that’s stretched paper-thin, though in Vienna strudels are made from many kinds of dough, including Danish pastry dough.

These snow-white little cakes are as delicious as any coconut candy I’ve ever tasted. It’s not necessary to clarify the butter for these. Unsweetened coconut is available both as long shreds (like the sweetened coconut you can buy in the supermarket) or more finely ground. The shreds retain more moisture than the ground coconut does. Either may be used in this recipe, but if you use the shredded variety, pulse it in the food processor half a dozen times, not to grind it to a powder, but to reduce the shreds in size to about 1/8 inch.

No cake is homier or more casual than a carrot cake, especially a carrot cake with a filling or topping of cream cheese frosting. This is loosely adapted from a recipe by Maida Heatter in her landmark Book of Great American Desserts.

Possibly the most interesting sandwiches in the world, Mexican tortas combine boldly seasoned elements in a way that achieves both complexity and a certain delicacy. This recipe is from my very dear friend Roberto Santibañez, chef/owner of Fonda. Friendship aside, my critical side knows that he cooks the best Mexican food outside Mexico, bar none.

I love a recipe, like this one, that can be varied in infinite ways. Here the basic muffin batter can be altered to make a dozen different types of easy-to-prepare muffins. Thanks to my dear friend Cara Tannenbaum for sharing her recipe.

Baking crumbled bread with the caramel, a pinch of salt, and just a tablespoon of butter produces sweet crumbs that stay crisp once added to the ice cream. The ice cream recipe is based on the one I learned from Monsieur Alex Frolla, the pastry chef when I did my three summer seasons working at the Sporting Club and the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. It was the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

In the heart of Andalusia, where gazpacho also originated, Cordoba is home to gazpacho’s thicker ancestor, salmorejo. A simple mixture of tomatoes, seasonings, and moistened bread, salmorejo is usually garnished with chopped hard cooked egg, thin dice of Spanish Serrano ham, and a drizzle of olive oil.