Tender greens with somewhat assertive flavors, such as peppery arugula and watercress or bitter endive, or young dandelion go wonderfully with sweet citrus fruits like oranges, mandarins, and blood oranges, ripe pears or crunchy apples, and figs. Roasted nuts bring out the sweetness in the greens. There are endless possible variations on this theme. One of my favorites is arugula, blood oranges, and roasted pine nuts. Or, for an easy main-course luncheon salad, combine frisée, quartered ripe figs, and walnuts, then top it with thin sheets of prosciutto or smoked goose breast.

Almond cake may be a simple and humble Italian dessert, but it’s also remarkably versatile and a natural make-ahead dessert.

Do not substitute low-fat or nonfat milk for the whole milk. Blanched almonds are almonds without their skin. Be careful not to overtoast the almonds or the cake will have a dry, crumbly texture. You can substitute 3 cups whole blanched almonds for the slivered; increase their oven toasting time to 11 minutes and their processing time to 30 seconds in step 2.

This recipe was published in our cookbook The Best Make-Ahead Recipe.

Good stuff – very festive! I drank it straight, but the authors say it’s also decent with Maple Cinnamon Buckwheat Crispies cereal (p. 272).

Delicious! This simple recipe is my favorite from this book and is best served on the rocks. I didn’t have almond extract, but hazelnut extract did the trick.

Very rich! I thought it would taste best iced, but that made the coconut butter clump up – room temperature next time.

I made it with 1/3 c. raw agave nectar because I didn’t have stevia, and I don’t have lecithin, and it turned out fine. Also, if you don’t have cheesecloth, a fine mesh strainer will do.