Mini cupcakes; Post-Dispatch photos by David Carson

Cravings owner/pastry chef Tim Brennan will use this rich chocolate ganache to top his Mini Chocolate Cranberry Cupcakes at a fundraiser Nov. 14 for the St. Louis Public Library.

Chocolate Ganache > Tim Brennan, Cravings

1 cup heavy cream
2 ounces unsalted butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 pound chopped high-quality chocolate, such as Valrhona

1. Bring cream, butter and sugar to boil in a heavy pot.
2. Turn off the heat, add the chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Let cool to room temperature. If using to frost cupcakes and you’re comfortable using a pastry bag, place the ganache in a bag with a star tip and pipe concentric circles of ganache on top of each cupcake.

Squash bisque

Something Elegant Catering uses these savory, biscotti-like crisps to garnish its Pueblo Squash Bisque.

Piñon Crisps > Something Elegant Catering
Yield: About 64 crisps

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) pine nuts
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the pine nuts in a pie pan and roast, tossing them occasionally, until fragrant, about 7 minutes. Let cool and finely chop.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, Parmigiano-Reggiano, cornmeal, Pecorino Romano, fennel seeds, salt, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, black pepper and cayenne. Stir in the chopped pine nuts and make a well in the center.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the egg. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until a crumbly dough forms.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth but still slightly sticky. Divide the dough into four parts and cover with plastic wrap. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time and keeping the rest tightly wrapped, roll each piece of dough into a 1-inch diameter log (about 14 inches long). Put the logs on 2 baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake on the top 2 shelves of the oven for 20 minutes or until golden, shifting the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. As the logs bake, the tops may split down the middle. Let the logs cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes.
5. Turn the oven down to 200 degrees. Transfer the logs to a work surface. Using a serrated knife and a sawing motion, slice the logs on sharp diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the slices cut side up on the baking sheets and place in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, until hard to the touch but not browned. Turn the crisps over and bake 40 minutes longer, or until they are dry and crisp. Set the crisps aside to cool and dry further several hours or overnight. The crisps will keep several weeks in an airtight container.

(Please note: Unlike the recipes that appeared in print, these have not been tested by the Post-Dispatch.)