Yeast

Semolina flour, made from durum wheat, is sometimes labeled "pasta flour."

"One Saturday morning I came up with this bread recipe, and now my family asks for it all the time," writes Priscilla Unger of Alberta, Canada. "My husband insists on having his first slice while the loaf is still warm from the oven, but I prefer mine toasted and topped with marmalade." The slightly sweet bread is great with butter and preserves.

(Buckwheat Yeast Pancakes with Three Caviars)

Schat begins by making a biga — a rather stiff dough that ferments in the refrigerator overnight. He incorporates a portion of the biga into another, wetter dough made the next day. The biga adds a deeper flavor and extra strength to the final dough. Schat, like all professional bakers, measures his ingredients by weight, which is far more precise than volume.

Many Moravians--a Germanic people from a region in what for most of the twentieth century has been known as Czechoslovakia-- settled in Ohio, southern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois in the last century. The mashed potatoes give this coffee cake, which is good for breakfast or an afternoon break, a distinctive, moist texture.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 3 hr.

The Shakers, who once had a number of active communities in New England, were known for their creative use of fresh herbs in cooking and baking. This savory yeast bread is a typical example. It is delicious freshly baked or toasted the following day.

If you have a set of clay tiles or a baking stone, place it on the oven rack while preheating the oven. It will absorb the heat, and putting a pizza pan or baking sheet directly on top will ensure a crisp crust.

Cumin flavors a variety of foods, including breads, in southwestern cooking. Make the dough for these rolls one or two days ahead, and let it rise in the refrigerator.

This is a Creole cake whose history is the history of the famous New Orleans carnivals celebrated in song and stories. The "King's Cake," or Gateau de Roi, is inseparably connected with the origin of our now world-famed carnival balls. In fact, they owe their origin to the old Creole custom of choosing a king and queen on King's Day, or Twelfth Night.

It's important not to try to halve this recipe. When you need only a half recipe of dough, as for the pains au chocolat, use the rest of the dough for a batch of Parma braids or a princess ring. Or make a double recipe of those irresistible chocolate croissants and share them with friends. One batch of this dough is enough for 24 plain croissants, 32 chocolate croissants, 16 Parma braids, or 2 princess rings.

Sweet Butter Pastries This recipe is based on the version of the Breton classic found in Anne Willan's L'Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne. The butter-rich dough gives a result akin to Danish pastry but more rustic.