DAY Recipe

DIRECTIONS

Make phyllo crisps: Preheat oven to 350°F.

Finely grind 1/3 cup pistachios with sugar, coriander, and cardamom in a food processor. Finely chop remaining pistachios and reserve.

Put stack of phyllo sheets on a work surface and cover with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap and a dampened kitchen towel. Put 1 phyllo sheet ona cutting board and brush with some butter. Sprinkle phyllo sheet evenly with half of nut sugar, then top with another sheet of phyllo. Brush phyllo with some butter and sprinkle with remaining nut sugar. Top with remaining phyllo sheet, pressing down gently, then brush with remaining butter. Chill phyllo 10 minutes.

Trim edges of phyllo with a sharp knife to make 1 (15- by 12-inch) rectangle. Cut stack lengthwise to make 4 (3-inch-wide) strips, thencut strips crosswise into 5 (3-inch) squares, forming 20 total. Halve each square diagonally, then carefully transfer triangles, 1 at a time, with a spatula onto a parchment-lined large baking sheet, spacing them 1/4inch apart. Cover triangles with another piece of parchment and a baking sheet (as a weight). Bake in lower third of oven until golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove top baking sheet and carefully peel off top parchment(some phyllo may stick to it), then cool crisps on baking sheet on a rack.

Make mousse and assemble: Beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it holds soft peaks, then gently fold in lemon curd.

Put 1 crisp on each of 8 plates. Top each crisp with 1 heaping tablespoon mousse, then layer with another crisp and tablespoon mousse. Top with crisps. Sprinkle reserved choppednuts around napoleons.

Cooks’ notes:

• Crisps keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

•Mousse can be made 4 hours ahead and chilled, covered.

DIRECTIONS

Make ice cream:
Bring cream, milk, sugar, zest, and salt just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally. Lightly beat yolks in a large bowl, then add hot sweetened cream in a slow stream, whisking. Pour custard into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until a candy or instant-read thermometer registers 170°F and custard coats back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Pour through a sieve into a clean bowl, then stir in juice. Cool custard, stirring occasionally, then chill until cold.

Freeze custard in ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezerto harden.

Make sauce:
Blend together preserves and lemon juice in a food processor untilsmooth. Strain sauce and/or thinwith water if desired.

Serve ice cream with black-currant sauce.

Cooks’ notes:

•To cool custard quickly after straining, set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until chilled.

• Ice cream keeps 1 week. Black-currant sauce keeps, chilled, 1 week.

DIRECTIONS

Make macaroons: Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw or trace 12 (3-inch) circles1 inch apart on parchment and turn paper over on baking sheet.

Put egg whites in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water and gently whisk constantly until barely warm. Remove bowl from heat and beat whites with a pinch of salt with an electric mixer until they just hold soft peaks. Gradually add 1/2 cup superfine sugar, beating until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks. Fold in remaining1/4 cup sugar, then nuts.

Transfer meringue to pastry bag and pipe 12 rounds of meringue inside drawn circles on parchment. Bake in middle of oven until dry to the touch and crisp, about 1 1/2 hours. If macaroons are not crisp after 1 1/2 hours, turn off oven and let stand in oven 30 to 40 minutes more. Peel macaroons off parchment and transfer to a rack to cool (macaroons may stick if cooled on paper).

Make semifreddo: Finely grate enough zest from oranges to measure 1 1/2 teaspoons. Squeeze 2 cups juice.

Whisk together yolks, sugar, and potato starch in a 1-quart heavy saucepan. Gradually add juice, whisking until smooth. Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and registers 170°F on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 6 minutes. Pour through a very fine sieve into a metal bowl and stir in zest. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir occasionally until mixture is cold.

Freeze in ice-cream maker until soft-frozen. Spread semifreddo on flat (bottom) side of 6 macaroons and top with remaining macaroons, flat sides down. Wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to serve.

Make wine syrup: Remove zest from orange with a vegetable peeler, then remove any white pith from zest. Julienne zest. Squeeze 1 tablespoon juice.

Cover zest with cold water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water. Pat dry.

Cook sugar in a dry 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted intoa deep golden caramel.

While caramel is cooking, bring wine and zest to a boil in a small saucepan. Tilt caramel pan and carefully pour in wine with zest (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Stir in orange and lemon juices, then cool.

Let filled macaroons soften 20 to25 minutes at room temperature, then serve with wine syrup.

Cooks’ notes:

• Filled macaroons can be frozenup to 2 days.

• Wine syrup can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.

DIRECTIONS

Make cakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F and butter2 (8-inch) square cake pans (2 inches deep).

Sift flour with salt into a bowl.

Heat eggs and sugar in large metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water, gently whisking constantly, until lukewarm.

Remove bowl from heat and add vanilla, then beat with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until thickand pale and tripled in volume (about 5 minutes with a standing mixer or10 minutes with a handheld). Sift flour and salt over eggs in 2 batches, folding gently but thoroughly after each batch. Fold in melted butter until combined. Divide batter evenly between cake pans, smoothing tops.

Bake cakes in middle of oven untila tester comes out clean and cakes are golden, about 15 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 5 minutes, then invert onto racks to cool completely.

Make pineapple filling:
Stir together filling ingredients ina heavy saucepan until cornstarch is dissolved. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then simmer, stirring,3 minutes. Cool filling completely, stirring occasionally.

Make rum syrup:
Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Transfer to a small bowl and chill until ready to use.

Assemble cake:
Trim edges of cakes if necessary and cut each horizontally in half with a long serrated knife to form a total of4 thin layers. Put 1 cake layer, cutside up, on a cake plate and brush topwith some rum syrup, then spreadhalf of pineapple filling over it. Topwith another cake layer and brush with syrup, then spread with about 2/3 cup buttercream. Top with a third cake layer and brush with syrup, then spread remaining pineapple over it. Topwith fourth layer, cut side down, and brush with remaining syrup. Frost sides and top of cake with remaining buttercream, then coat with coconut.

Cooks’ notes:

• Cake layers can be made 2 days ahead and left unsplit. Keep, wrapped wellin plastic wrap, at room temperature.

• Pineapple filling can be prepared3 days ahead and chilled, covered.

•Rum syrup can be made 1 weekahead and chilled, covered.

• Cake can be assembled 1 day aheadand chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.

DIRECTIONS

Finely grind coriander seeds in an electric coffee/spice grinder or witha mortar and pestle.Bring water, 2 tablespoons oil, and salt to a boil in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in couscous and coriander seeds, then cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand5 minutes.Fluff couscous with a fork and stirin remaining tablespoon oil, apricots, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste