Pie

This dessert was inspired by my good friend and great Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme. He prepares his with sweet potatoes, which are available year-round, and hence, give his version a longer seasonal shelf life than mine. If there's anything better than pumpkin pie or pecan pie, it's the two of them together. The whiskey butter adds a thoroughly Cajun twist to this sweet ending.

Vibrant berry flavor and a buttery crust accented with grated orange peel are the hallmarks of this outstanding pie.

Pay de Limón At our cooking classes in Oaxaca, I guide our students through the markets, buying tastes of the thick cream (it's like milky butter with a cheesey flavor and unctuous texture), the perfumey, greenish-yellow key limes and exotic tropical fruit like guanabana, chirimoya, guava, black zapote and papaya. In order to offer more than a simple taste of these traditional foods after one trip to the market, I combined that incredible cream and lime into a simple pie for our class meal, serving it with an assortment of pureed fruits. Even with our American homemade cream (or crème fraîche) and less-tart hybrid Persian limes, the pie makes a lovely special-dinner finale.

Apple cider vinegar makes the crust extra flaky. Offer eggnog ice cream (or vanilla ice cream sprinkled with nutmeg) alongside.

When you brush the bottom pie crust with an egg wash, you keep the fruit from making the pie soggy as it bakes. By sprinkling the top crust with sugar, it makes for a great sugary crust.

Blended in the processor, the no-bake cream cheese filling is ultra-smooth.

By the time Crisco came out in 1911, apple pies had long been an American classic. But Crisco, the first hydrogenated vegetable shortening, gave cooks a boost. Here was a shelf-stable alternative to perishable butter and lard. While a lot of consumers were skeptical of Crisco, many early sales were generated by Orthodox Jews, who bought the shortening after a recipe booklet was published in Yiddish showing how Crisco could be used without breaking kosher dietary laws. Its success was assured when rationing made lard scarce during World War I.

As the pie bakes, the filling separates into a soft pudding-like bottom and a cakey top.

For extra convenience, make this a week ahead and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator.

Key limes are also known as Mexican or West Indian limes. If you can't find them in your area, substitute bottled Key lime juice. We've tried several different brands in our test kitchens, and prefer the taste of Manhattan.* This recipe is modified from the classic one found on many condensed milk and Key lime juice labels; we've added additional lime juice for more tartness.

Note that this recipe calls for either walnuts or almonds and either water or crème de cacao. Use the walnuts and ice water for the <epi:recipelink id="102543"">Caramelized Apple and Pear Pie</epi:recipelink>, and the almonds and crème de cacao for the <epi:recipelink id="102544"">Chocolate-Almond Pie</epi:recipelink>.

Bill Borger created this rich dessert and its decadent sauce.

Our food editors loved shavings of Stilton cheese on these tarts. We understand that nobody has much room for dessert after a big meal, much less one with cheese, but these tarts are actually quite light and refreshing: The Stilton lends depth and provides a savory counterpoint to the sweet grapes and crust.