Rose Levy Beranbaum

This is my favorite pie crust. It took several years and over fifty tries to get it just right and is the soul of this book. It is unlike any other cream cheese pie crust because, in addition to being tender, it is also flaky. In fact, it is very similar in texture to epi:recipeLink="101858"Basic Flaky Pie Crust</epi:recipeLink> � almost as flaky but a little softer and more tender, and it browns more when baked, resulting in a rich golden color. The addition of cream cheese makes it even easier to prepare than basic flaky pie crust because you never have to guess how much water to add, and it gives it a flavor so delicious it is great to eat just by itself without filling! It is well worth purchasing or making pastry flour, as it will result in a more tender crust.

This pie crust is light, flaky tender and very crisp. It has a glorious butter flavor and is an ideal container for any pie or tart recipe. I strongly recommend commercial or homemade pastry flour, as it will result in a more tender crust than one made with all-purpose flour.

A dollop of softly whipped fresh cream alongside a piece of pie is one of life's perfect things. If you want the cream to hold up for hours, the optional Cobasan will make it possible, with no compromise of flavor or texture. If you prefer an unsweetened counterpoint to a sweeter pastry, leave out the sugar.

The Beranbaum family fell in love with this pie at a diner called Big Boy in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. We were addicted to this pie, consisting of a crisp crust filled only with fresh strawberries held together by a fruit juice glaze. We would drive fifty miles to Big Boy every weekend just to have it. When I tried to duplicate it in my kitchen, I discovered that a fruit glaze also works well with fresh raspberries or a mixture of raspberries and currants. The glaze preserves the freshness of the fruit for two days.

Moist, billowy, light as a feather, and perfumed with fresh orange juice and zest, this is an incomparably refreshing cake. If you live in a part of the world where oranges grow, you could not ask for a more appropriate and aromatic adornment than orange blossoms, but fresh daisies also convey the lighthearted spirit of this lovely cake. A serving contains only 129 mg. of cholesterol.

This classic cookie combines two of my favorite sweets: buttery-tender Scottish shortbread and satiny lilting English lemon curd. The problem has always been getting a firm enough topping and avoiding a soggy shortbread base. The special technique discovered for this recipe virtually guarantees success.

The clean, refreshing flavor of lemon makes these the perfect sweets to follow a rich Christmas goose.

If you love peanut butter, these cookies will be It. I created what I believe to be quintessential peanut butter cookies to honor the one hundredth anniversary of peanut butter. They are very peanut buttery yet exceptionally light, with a lovely "sandy" bite. At my husband's urging, I doubled up on the peanut butter and decreased the flour, making the chocolate cookie centers seem like biting into a Reese's peanut butter cup.

Chocolate centers blend wonderfully with the peanut flavor, but the bright, tart, sticky cherry centers, are my first choice.

These are, without a doubt, the best rugelach I've ever tasted, and, to my mind, there is no point whatsoever in improving on perfection. From my friend Lora's wonderful book Cooking with Memories, this recipe was passed down to her from her mother.

One of the reasons these rugelach are so special is that the dough itself contains a little sugar, making it softer and more cozy and buttery than the usual. Then there is the extra zing of tartness from the apricot preserves and the sweet, sharp sting of lots of plump golden raisins. As I mentioned, perfection! As Lora warns: "Beware, you can't eat just one!"

If I had to choose among all my cakes, this one would win first place because it is delicious by itself yet versatile enough to accommodate a wide range of buttercreams. The cake combines the soft texture of white cake with the buttery flavor of yellow cake. Using all the yolks instead of whole eggs produces a rich yellow color, fine texture and delicious flavor.

This brownie, baked in a tart pan, gets its moistness from cream cheese and its fudginess from the best-quality cocoa and chocolate. Little puddles of ganache are poured into holes made in the brownie, after it has baked, with a the handle of a wooden spoon. Chocolate doesn't get better than this.

Arranging the apple slices in a flower petal formation may be work for the cook, but it sure provides luxurious eating for your lucky guests. This pie has an exceptionally crisp bottom crust under a juicy filling of caramelized, cinnamony apples made tangy and glistening with a gilding of apricot preserves. The border is a wreath of leaves cut from the pie crust.

This pie rivals peach pie for flavor and texture. The double-crust pie is piled high with lush tart nectarines interspersed with raspberries. The flesh of a nectarine is slightly firmer than that of a peach, producing a pie with an excellent texture.

Pumpkin is one of those tastes you either love or hate, so there is no point in half-measures. Its earthy flavor should not be overwhelmed by molasses or too much spice, particularly mace. If you’re a pumpkin lover, when you bite into a piece of pumpkin pie, you want to taste pumpkin.

In this recipe, I cook the pumpkin and spices before baking, which makes for a more mellow and pleasing flavor. Puréeing the pumpkin in a food processor produces an unusually silky texture.

The crunchy bottom crust is the result of creating a layer of gingersnaps and ground pecans to absorb any excess liquid from the filling, and also of baking the pie directly on the floor of the oven.