Gale Gand

"I top fresh ricotta with cherries that I've picked in the spring and frozen. The cherries absorb the natural sweetness of the port," explains pastry chef Gale Gand about one of her favorite three-ingredient desserts.

In her version of lemon meringue pie, Gale Gand forgoes a traditional crust for quick-baked sheets of sugared phyllo dough, which she layers with house-made lemon curd and a brown-sugar meringue. The recipe, a classic, appears in Gand's book Butter Sugar Flour Eggs (Clarkson Potter).

Gale Gand got this recipe from her mother-in-law, Vita Seidita; the fritters are also good sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or dipped in jelly.

Japanese bread crumbs, called panko, are bright white, and their large flakes result in a rough, crunchy texture.

Gale Gand learned to make these fantastic meringues from Washington, D.C., baker Warren Brown.

Boiling the formed pretzels before baking gives them a chewy interior, like a bagel. The baking soda in the water makes the baked pretzels shine.

In place of wagon wheels, or rotelle, any other pasta shape, such as penne or fusilli, can be used instead.