David Leite

An Interview with award-winning food writer, cookbook author, and culinary treasure Paula Wolfert.

A most gratifying use for a gangly gourd, this silken butternut squash soup all but defines autumn.

This pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting, well, takes the cake. Canned pumpkin makes it easy, the cream cheese frosting makes it delicious.

What makes this apple cake so incredibly moist that it stands out from the rest? Lots of things, including a lovely swirl of cream poured on top of the batter and baked right in.

David Leite, a Portuguese-American, travels to Lisbon, Portugal's capital, as a newly minted Portuguese citizen and finds a city of beauty and great eats.

These doughnuts have a wonderful crisp gold-brown crust and tender insides, like a dessert version of hush puppies.

Ripe pears and sweet-tart dried cranberries are the stars of this fruit crumble. The topping is an old-fashioned mix of oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter.

Fresh cod is poached in an herby milk-cream mixture and gently folded into mashed potatoes. It makes a perfect spread for garlic toasts.

Dinner doesn't get any easier or more elegant than pasta tossed with butter, olive oil, Parmesan and pecorino Romano cheeses, and dusted with lots of black pepper.

An ethereally creamy, subtly sweet, wickedly pistachio-y gelato that derives its pure flavor from nothing more than the essentials.

This recipe from the late, great Edna Lewis turns out skillet-fried chicken that's perfectly seasoned, extra-crisp, and gosh darn beautiful in every way.

Easy enough for everyday yet sufficiently elegant for anytime you need a little oomph, this honey-inflected walnut cake never disappoints. Ever.

Decadent is the only way to describe these cupcakes. The rich, mocha cake is filled with even richer chocolate cream, then topped with white chocolate frosting.

Crackly phyllo that's crisp as autumn leaves give way to tender wild mushrooms in this simple, sumptuous savory strudel.

David Leite faces his phobia of pans with a hole in them, as he refers to Bundt pans, when he's elected to bake an Ina Garten cake for a Hollywood party.

Simple and stunning. That's what we think of this ridiculously easy tart made with a graham cracker crumb crust, a luscious cheesecake-like filling made of cream cheese, cream, and sugar, and a scattering of summer berries.

Focaccia gets drizzled with an intense herb oil of basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, garlic and thyme, then loaded with slices of potato, onions, and rosemary.

A French tradition born of necessity that, over the years, has been transformed into something that seems far, far more indulgent than putting to use leftovers.

Also known as Neapolitan or Venetian cookies, these vivid cakes are stacked and sliced and dubbed cookies. We can deal.

At onetime French butter ruled in just about every pastry kitchen of note. But over the past decade, new American butters have been storming the gates.