Strawberry Recipes

Cake flour is the secret ingredient in this lusciously light shortcake. Make sure that you use pure cake flour as opposed to self-rising cake flour, which is similarly packaged. This dessert is at its best within 30 minutes of assembly.

Elisabeth Prueitt invented this exceptional, flaky dessert, made with a rough puff pastry. She cuts the pastry into a precise circle and weighs it down during baking to create an elegant base for sliced strawberries and whipped cream. The adaptable crust can be topped with almost any seasonal fruit.

Ed Jiloca was working as a line cook when his boss, Cathal Armstrong (an F&W Best New Chef 2006), promoted him to pastry chef. Jiloca taught himself by scouring cookbooks and websites. As these luscious cream puffs prove, he's become a master. But in his cool, calm pastry kitchen, he sometimes feels nostalgic for his life on the line: "I miss the heat!"

Here we serve the zabaglione hot when it's just made, but if you want to prepare the dish ahead of time, mix the zabaglione with whipped cream and refrigerate it.

Chris Yeo doesn't take credit for inventing this dessert—these individual cakes with molten centers appear on almost every restaurant menu in America. But his version is especially rich and chocolaty and made even better by the scoop of strawberry ice cream on top.

These strawberries, macerated in lime and honey, become a bracing summer dessert when served over a scoop of lemon sorbet. The whole thing can also go into the blender with a shot of rum to make an excellent frozen daiquiri.

Make-ahead Tip: The gelées can be refrigerated for up to 2 days in their ramekins. Unmold the gelées just before serving.

Chef Nate Appleman lost lots of weight by running. After a morning workout, he often makes this smoothie, which gets a dose of protein from almond butter.

Many versions of this dessert, made by soaking sponge cake in condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream, are too sweet and wet. This one from chef Soledad Correa of Casa Silva is perfect, with just a hint of cinnamon.

As this loaf bakes in the oven, the texture of chewy dried strawberries softens slightly. Buy your dried strawberries at a specialty food shop or health food store that rotates its stock frequently to make sure that they're plump and moist.

Pastry chef Heather Tirrell uses buttermilk to make the ricotta she piles on graham tartlet shells. But any good, store-bought ricotta would be fine, she says.

The secret to Chris Kronner's delectable sandwiches is the jam spiked with Pinot Noir. Kronner got the idea when he was helping Elisabeth Prueitt test jam recipes while they drank wine.

When baking these scones, be sure to use whole wheat pastry flour, which is less dense than whole wheat flour. Mixing in some all-purpose white flour also lightens the texture of the scones, so they're more delicate and tender.

Lynette Marrero created this delicate sangria with St-Germain, an aromatic elderflower liqueur that's delicious with a tropical-fruit-inflected Sauvignon Blanc.

Chef Chris Yeo's bar team created this vibrant strawberry-and-vodka cocktail topped with a splash of white wine.

Instead of piling this pillowy Pavlova with just fresh berries, grill the berries in a packet to get them deliciously juicy.

Take your tamales for dessert by charring strawberries in a skillet and addin them to the masa filling.