Ventagli di Pasta Sfoglia Caramellati (Italian Palmier Cookies) A ventaglio is puff pastry and sugar, and the sugar does the work. It is not dusted on at the end. The dough is rolled out in it, folded through it, sliced, and baked until the layer touching the tray melts and sets again as brittle amber caramel. What comes out is a fan of buttery leaves under a glassy shell that cracks when you bite. It takes half an hour of work and one deliberate turn in the oven. Yield: abou

Caramel budino sits between comfort food and serious pastry. Milk, cream, eggs, sugar, and caramel are familiar ingredients, but the entire quality of the dessert depends on the color and bitterness of the caramel.

Caramel changes panna cotta from a delicate dairy dessert into something deeper, with toasted sugar, gentle bitterness, and warm complexity. The entire result depends on cooking the caramel to the correct amber point.