Another sheet pan favorite. I love how these meals minimize dishes and free up your time while the oven does the cooking! With over ten servings of vegetables, this is a nutrition-packed meal the whole family will devour. (It even got five stars from friends who said, “No one in our family likes fajitas.”) Plus, everyone loves a good top-your-own-style dish. Enjoy as an easy weeknight meal or for entertaining guests without spending all your time in the kitchen. These babies are also delicious barbecued in a grilling basket!!

This ultra-rich, two-textured cake has a secret. What is it? Well, let me tell you: the fudgy cake and mousse layer is made out of the same mix. One half of the mixture is baked, while the other is simply poured on top and left to set into a mousse. This recipe is based on a Gateau Marcel and is a bit of 2-for-1 magic. Nestled in between the layers are Sauternes-soaked raisins, though you could swap these for brandied cherries or whatever might take your fancy. Finish it off with a thick dusting of bitter cocoa powder and you have, in my opinion, the ultimate chocolate dessert.

If you stumbled into Wonderland with Alice and attended the March Hare’s lavish outdoor tea party, we are certain the table would be set with these Raspberry Rose Biscuits. You too can enjoy a luxurious presentation on a towering, tiered dessert stand adorned with fresh flowers and raspberries, and delight in their sweet scent as it dances across the room. Make these for a whimsical take on teatime.

Light, soft, and delicate in flavor, this Bundt cake is the perfect dessert to make when you are looking for a quick one that is not rich or creamy, and which will pair beautifully with a cup of tea or coffee. The fine cornmeal (or polenta) in this cake gives it a nice bite and a lovely, slightly crumbly, texture, while the all-purpose flour keeps it soft and fluffy. My favorite way to slow down when making this cake: smelling the aroma of the rosewater as it is incorporated into the cake batter. The combination of the earthy, grassy flavor of the olive oil, along with the delicate floral taste of the rosewater, gives this cake a really refined flavor profile, making it hard to stop eating at only one slice!

Pepper shrimp is most often found as a roadside snack, particularly in the area of St. Anne, Jamaica. Shrimp in the shell is key, as it has so much more flavor, and peeling them is half the fun. Today, some people use red food coloring to give the dish its signature color, but traditionally it was tinted with annatto seeds. It’s also perfectly acceptable for the shrimp to not be red. What’s not acceptable is for them to be anything less than burning hot, hence the name. My sweet spot is two Scotch bonnet peppers, seeds and all, but adjust to your heat tolerance.

One of our most popular biscuits at the restaurant is studded with crisp bacon and cheddar cheese. It’s used for a biscuit sandwich that’s an elevated version of the classic bacon, egg, and cheese, so you get bacon and cheese in two forms (we’ll make that sandwich later in this book). As these biscuits bake, the cheddar melts throughout each layer, creating pockets of gooey cheese that alternate with bits of bacon, a heavenly combination.