Candy

To prevent fingerprints or smudges, wear thin cotton gloves* while handling the eggs.

These caramel-dipped fruits look like jewels and add another layer of elegance to the gingerbread roulade.

This recipe originally accompanied Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze .

Pasteli There are many variations of sesame honey candy from around the Mediterranean and the Middle East — some are hard and crunchy; others, like this Greek version, are chewy. This pasteli is sticky, but using a nonstick bakeware liner such as a Silpat pad will help you unmold the candy with ease. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 3 days

This recipe involves tempering, in which the chocolate is melted — and if necessary, cooled — to a temperature of just below body heat. Tempering chocolate helps to ensure that it will be glossy and stay firm at room temperature.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Maple Walnut Bûche de Nöel . Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

The fudge can be cut into three wide bars. Wrap each in cellophane and tie with ribbon, adding a butter knife to the bow.

Another name for this kind of creamy caramel fudge is penuche ("puh-noo-chee"), derived from panocha, a Mexican raw sugar. We think the texture of this one is most unusual: the combination of confectioners' sugar and brown sugar results in a particularly smooth, lush, velvety quality. We adapted a recipe from Pinkie's Bakery, in Souris, Prince Edward Island; the writer Marialisa Calta brought it back from a trip to the Canadian Maritimes.

The combination of salty, sweet, crunchy, and smooth gives these confections a special place in my heart. That, added to the fact that they made an appearance at every bridge and mahjongg game my mother ever hosted, elevates their status to serious nostalgia food. You can find cans of Chinese chow-mein noodles in the Asian food section of the supermarket. The ones you want are cooked and ready to eat like crackers.

Jews from Persia (present-day Iran) are especially proud of Queen Esther's role in the holiday of Purim. A favorite dish of Iranian children is halvah, which they eat after they break the fast of Esther, observed on Adar 13. At nursery school, Merissa learned this recipe for halvah from an Iranian teacher. In between tastes, the children played with Esther and Ahasuerus marionettes they had made with the help of their teacher.

Covered with a cracked sugar crust, this cake is fragrant with butter — yet it uses far less than most cakes. And although it's made with yeast, the rising time is brief. I love this cake at any time of day, with raspberries, with fruit compotes of all kinds, and in place of shortcake with strawberries and cream.

Gianduia is a classic Italian combination of chocolate and hazelnuts. If you can't find foil candy cups, buy twice as many paper ones and use two (one inside the other) per candy. (Doubling the paper cups makes a sturdier form.) Arrange the confections in holiday tins, or place on decorative trays, wrap in cellophane and tie with gold ribbons.

Sugared flower petals are easy decorations for cakes, tarts, and cupcakes; they're just a little time-consuming. Be certain to use only nontoxic and organic (pesticide-free) flowers, such as bachelor's button, nasturtium, calendula, chamomile, violet, snapdragon, and Johnny-jump-ups.

Sephardim enjoy these confections on special occasions, especially Rosh Hashannah and Passover. Almost any fruit can be used in this process, but hard fruits require cooking and dried ones soaking. Although fruit is naturally sweet, the sugar in this recipe contributes additional sweetness and also intensifies the flavors, contributes body (so that the paste can be cut into shapes), and acts as a preservative.

This recipe was created to accompany Praline Pecan Tarts .