Cooking Vegetarian: 2,600+ Recipes

Crème caramel, the vegetarian flan at its silkiest, begins with a ring of bitter amber caramel and ends in a trembling custard of eggs, milk, cream, and real vanilla. There's nothing to hide behind, which is exactly the point. It needs a long chill, so make it a...

Cloud-like cherry amaretto soufflés rise tall on a base of amaretto-laced cream sauce and juicy dark cherries. The meringue — egg whites whipped with cream of tartar — does all the lifting. Get them to the table the minute they leave the oven; the settling is part of...

Spicy ginger pumpkin pie deepens the classic with brown sugar and molasses over an all-butter crust. The filling bakes up dense and custardy, and the whole pie improves as the spices meld. Make it the day before your holiday dinner and thank yourself later. Forget...

A classic French apple tart is all about restraint: an all-butter crust, thin fanned apples, and a sheen of apricot glaze. It's a weekend project with the dough's rest built in, and the payoff is a tart that belongs in a bakery window. Firm, tart apples do...

Golden apple and brandy clafoutis is what happens when custard and apple pie meet in one dish. Cinnamon-and-clove-spiced apples cook in butter first, then a pour of eggy batter puffs up around them. Serve it warm, straight from the pan — no crust, no fuss. Imagine the...

This jeweled holiday fruitcake glows with green and red candied cherries, figs, and dates. Golden raisins and pecans fill in the gaps, and a whisper of nutmeg runs through the whole thing. It bakes low and slow, then waits — like all good fruitcakes — for slicing day....

Flora's famous stretched apple strudel is all about the dough: stretched, not rolled, until it's thin enough to read a newspaper through. Tart apples, raisins, walnuts, coconut, and a swipe of jam roll up inside, and the simple flour-and-oil dough bakes up...

Dark, moist, and rich — this holiday fruitcake is the one that converts the skeptics. Apricots, prunes, dates, and currants plump up around candied peel and pecans, with half whole-wheat flour in the mix for depth. Bake it ahead of time; it only improves with a rest....

Classic French chocolate buttercream is the yolk-based one — silky, deeply chocolate, and sturdy enough to pipe. You cook the yolks and sugar into a light custard low and slow, beat in soft butter, then sift in the cocoa. It pipes beautifully and holds its shape on...

Aunt Wenia's Polish rum layer cake, a family mazurek, soaks a thin sponge in rum and stacks it with plum jam, walnuts, raisins, and candied orange peel under chocolate buttercream. It's a holiday centerpiece with a story behind it, and it genuinely improves...

Zuppa Inglese, Italy's playful 'English soup,' is no soup at all but layers of rum-brushed sponge and silky Marsala custard. A thin slick of apricot or peach marmalade cuts the richness and keeps every bite interesting. Make it a day ahead — it needs...

Vegetarian spumoni cake turns the classic Italian dessert into a chilled, sliceable showpiece of genoise, espresso, and cocoa. A day-old sponge layer so up the brandy-spiked coffee, then everything rests until firm. It's an overnight project with under an hour of...