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The Winter Travel Issue

Four Bakery-Worthy Desserts to Make at Home

To accompany our feature on pastries, we asked chefs to share their recipes for favorite treats that, together, amount to a culinary trip around the world.

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CreditCredit...Illustration By Ilya Milstein. Animation By Jonathan Eden

Nov. 10, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ET

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Credit...Ilya Milstein

Camari Mick’s Red Velvet Babka

When we asked the New York-based pastry chef Camari Mick for her take on the Frankenpastry, she decided to combine two desserts with strong local ties. “The first red velvet cake was made here, in the Waldorf Hotel,” says Mick, who wove that dessert’s cream cheese, chocolate and signature deep red color into a recipe for babka, a yeasted bread that was popularized by New York’s Jewish community. The chef, who is planning to open an Afro-Caribbean restaurant in Manhattan early next year, often makes babka with leftover doughnut dough for staff meals. Her love of red velvet cake goes back further: “Red velvet is really popular in the Black community,” she says. “I probably had my first slice as a kid, at a Juneteenth barbecue.”

Makes one loaf

Ingredients:

For the dough

4 cups/500 grams all-purpose flour

⅓ cup/67 grams granulated sugar

1 packet (2¼ teaspoons/10 grams) instant yeast

1 teaspoon/5 grams fine sea salt

3 tablespoons/20 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ cup/180 grams warmed whole milk

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons/35 grams red beet powder (adjust for vibrancy)

½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter, softened

For the cream cheese filling

8 ounces/225 grams cream cheese, softened

⅓ cup/67 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk

For the syrup glaze

½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar

½ cup water

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour, sugar, yeast, salt and cocoa powder. Add warm milk, eggs and beet powder. Mix on low until combined, then add butter a few pieces at a time. Increase speed to medium and knead until smooth, elastic and slightly tacky, about 8 to 10 minutes. Shape into a ball, cover and let rise until doubled, 1½ to 2 hours.

2. To make the filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk until smooth. Chill until ready to use.

3. Once the dough has risen, punch down and roll into a large rectangle (about 12 x 16 inches). Spread the cream cheese filling evenly, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll tightly from the long edge into a log. Slice the log in half lengthwise and twist the two halves together, keeping the cut sides facing up for visible swirls.

4. Place in a greased loaf pan, cover, and let rise until puffy, about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until deep red-brown and set.

5. While baking, make the syrup by heating sugar and water until sugar is dissolved. Brush the hot babka generously with syrup right out of the oven to give it a glossy finish and seal in moisture. Cool completely before slicing.

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CreditCredit...

How baked goods help tell the story of culture across the globe.

A taste of bánh in Vietnam, conchas in Mexico, egg tarts in Hong Kong, wienerbrød in Denmark, trompe l’oeil entremets in France, kaab el ghazal in Morocco, convent sweets in Spain, baklava in Turkey and Frankenpastries in New York. Plus find recipes for home baking here. And take a closer look at the covers.

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Credit...Ilya Milstein

Trine Hahnemann’s Frøsnapper

Don’t be daunted by frøsnapper, a Danish laminated pastry. “Unlike with croissants, where an uneven rise can make for a doughy pastry, it really doesn’t matter how the dough rises,” says the Copenhagen-based cookbook author Trine Hahnemann. Frøsnapper are excellent, she says, “even when they look a little rustic and homemade.” And while this recipe is split over two days to minimize baking time in the morning, you can do it all in a day. Just don’t skimp on the poppy seeds, she says, which give these pastries “a really nice flavor and that delicious crunchiness.”

Makes 15 pastries

For the dough

2¾ cups/350 grams flour

1 ounce/25 grams fresh yeast or 1½ teaspoons/7 grams fast-acting dry yeast

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 tablespoon/13 grams superfine sugar

3 sticks/340 grams unsalted cold butter, sliced thinly

For the filling

1⅓ stick/10½ tablespoons unsalted soft butter

5 tablespoons/65 grams superfine sugar

2 tablespoons/18 grams poppy seeds

For the topping

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 to 4 tablespoons/26 to 35 grams poppy seeds, to taste

3 to 4 tablespoons/26 to 35 grams sesame seeds, to taste

Day 1:

1. Dissolve the fresh yeast in a generous half-cup of lukewarm water. Add the beaten egg, salt and sugar. Stir in the flour and knead the dough with your hands until even and light. Put it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

2. Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a rough 20-inch square. Place a square of butter in the center at a 45° angle to the dough, so it forms a smaller diamond inside the pastry square. Fold the corners of the pastry over the butter to encase it fully and seal the joints well. Roll out the dough again carefully, this time into a rectangle, making sure it doesn’t crack and expose the butter.

Next, fold one of the shorter ends one-third over into the center, and the other shorter end over that: you are folding the rectangle into three, as you would a letter.

3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.

4. Repeat this rolling and folding procedure, doing it three times in total, and remembering to let the dough rest for 15 minutes in the fridge between each. At this point, the dough is ready to use — or, you can leave it in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap to bake the following morning. (You can use this dough for any Wienerbrød recipe.)

Day 2:

1. Make the filling by mixing together the butter, sugar and poppy seeds. Set aside.

2. Roll the pastry dough out to a 24 x 14-inch rectangle. Spread the filling lengthwise down one half of the dough, and then fold the plain half of the dough over the filling to encase it. Press the seams together, brush with the egg, and then sprinkle with the poppy seeds and sesame seeds so the dough is covered.

3. Line a baking tray with parchment. Cut the pastry crosswise into long strips, each 6 x 1.5 inches. Take one at a time, twist them, and then place on the baking tray. Cover with a tea towel and let rise again for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

5. Brush each pastry with egg wash again on the cut edges and the pieces that aren’t covered with seeds, to ensure that every bit turns golden, and then bake for five minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F and bake for another 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack before eating.

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Credit...Ilya Milstein

Sahin Erdal’s Pistachio Baklava

As a kid, Sahin Erdal would eat his way through trays of his mother’s homemade phyllo dough and pistachio baklava. “From that first bite of crunchy dough and super sweet syrup, I was hooked,” says Erdal, now a Paris-based chef. “Fast forward 30 years, and I cannot make it the way my mom does,” he says. Still, years of experimentation — influenced by his time in some of Paris’s top restaurants in addition to his mother, Selma — led him to land on his own recipe. Here, Erdal decided to substitute the puff pastry he perfected in Paris for phyllo dough. Making it from scratch is “uniquely rewarding,” he says, but if you’re pressed for time, a ready-made phyllo dough from a Mediterranean grocery store will work. He plans to serve this version at his first restaurant, which will open in the 11th Arrondissement in early 2026. It will be named Selma.

Makes one half-sheet-pan-sized baking tray

For the dough

1½ cups/175 grams all-purpose flour, plus more as needed for dusting

1½ teaspoons/ 6 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon/5 grams kosher salt

About 1½ sticks/170 grams unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

Scant ½ cup ice-cold water

For the filling

3½ cups/500 grams pistachios, crushed

¾ cups/150 grams granulated sugar

3 eggs, beaten

½ cup/100 grams unsalted butter, melted

For the simple syrup

4¼ cups water

2½ tablespoons/50 grams honey

1¾ cups/350 grams granulated sugar

1 tablespoon/15 grams rose water or orange blossom water

Zest from 1 lemon

To make the puff pastry:

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt together. Place the cold cubed butter in the bowl and gently toss the flour and butter together with your hands, then rub them together to combine. You don’t want to break down the butter too much in this step — it should still be chunky.

2. Add about 2 tablespoons of ice water to the bowl and then begin mixing with your hands, adding one additional tablespoon at a time. Once half your water is in, the dough will begin to hydrate. At this point, you can start lightly squeezing or clumping the dough together with your hands to help bring it together. The mixture will still be very shaggy. If your dough feels sticky and wet before you have added all of the water, mix in 1 additional tablespoon of flour.

3. Pour the shaggy clump of dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. There should still be some large chunks of butter at this point. With lightly floured hands, begin patting the dough down until it’s a rectangle that’s about ¾ of an inch to 1 inch thick and 5 x 8 inches wide.

4. Fold the dough into thirds as if you were folding a letter. Use your hands to gently flatten and smooth out any cracks in your dough. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper, or place into an airtight container. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

5. Next, you’re going to roll and fold the dough. Take it out of the refrigerator. If it has chilled for longer than about 3 hours, it’s likely to be very stiff — let it rest for about 5 minutes before you begin rolling.

6. Lightly flour a work surface. The dough gets sticky, so make sure you have more flour nearby to sprinkle as you roll and fold. Using lightly floured hands, gently flatten the dough into a small square. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle that’s ½-inch thick and 6 × 12 inches wide. The exact dimensions are not so important, but the thickness is. As you roll, it’s best to flip the dough over once or twice to make sure it’s not sticking to your work surface, and to lightly flour your work surface as needed.

7. Fold the rectangle into thirds as if it were a letter. Turn it 90 degrees and roll it out into a ½-inch-thick rectangle again. Fold into thirds again. Turn it 90 degrees. You’ll repeat rolling and folding 4 more times, for a total of 6 times. Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 24 hours before using in your recipe. You can also freeze the dough to use for another time.

To assemble the baklava:

1. Bring the simple syrup ingredients to a boil, and then remove from heat and set aside. Combine the sugar and crushed pistachios for the filling and set aside.

2. Preheat your oven to 365°F.

3. Brush the bottom of an 18- x 13-inch baking dish with the butter reserved for your filling.

4. Dust your work top with flour, and then roll out the chilled pastry until you have a rough rectangle that’s about ¼-inch thick. Cut a piece of the dough with your knife so it fits perfectly into the base of your baking tray. Repeat until you have 4 to 5 layers cut and ready to assemble.

5. Brush the first layer of dough now lining your baking tray with beaten egg. Sprinkle some of the nut and sugar filling over the layer, and then place another sheet of pastry on top. Repeat these steps until your baklava is assembled, topping the final layer with an egg wash, and then nuts and sugar.

6. Cut your baklava into squares in the tray carefully, then bake it for 30 to 40 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

7. Remove from the oven and pour the cooled simple syrup over the top, and sprinkle on any remaining crushed nuts. Leave it to cool for 2 to 3 hours before serving.

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Credit...Ilya Milstein

Lucas Sin’s Egg Tarts

At Hong Kong’s diners, known as cha chaan tengs, egg tarts are often the last items to go into the oven in the morning. “They’re an after-lunch thing,” says the chef Lucas Sin, whose cookbook “Cha Chaan Teng”* *is slated to publish next fall. “The platonic ideal of an afternoon in Hong Kong is with an egg tart and a cup of milk tea at 3:15 p.m., inside one of these places.” Sin, who relocated from Hong Kong to New York earlier this year, explains that while he loves the flaky, lard-based shell often used in egg tarts, this equally popular pastry is simple to make at home. The dough is reminiscent of a pâte sucrée (“‘cookie crust’ is a literal translation from the Cantonese,” Sin notes), with an extra-crumbly texture on account of the low-gluten flour. The set of the filling is just as delicate. “It’s very jiggly; it should feel like it’s barely holding on,” he says. That ephemerality is part of the charm, says Sin: “Egg tarts are best eaten the day they’re baked — ideally within hours.”

Makes eight small tarts

For the dough

7 tablespoons/100 grams margarine or unsalted butter, room temperature

1½ tablespoons/18 grams granulated white sugar

¼ teaspoon/2 grams table salt

1 egg yolk

⅔ cup/80 grams low-gluten flour or cake flour, plus more for dusting

1½ tablespoon/12 grams cornstarch

For the custard filling

⅔ cup hot water

3 tablespoons/36 grams granulated sugar

¼ cup/57 grams evaporated milk

1 egg

1 egg yolk

To make the cookie crust dough:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and salt on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and mix on low speed until fully incorporated. Add the flour and cornstarch and continue mixing on low until just combined, about 1 minute. Do not overmix.** **Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

2. Toward the end of the chilling period, preheat the oven to 350°F.

To shape the tart shells:

1. Divide the chilled dough into 8 equal portions, about 1½ tablespoons (25 grams) each. (You will have a little bit left over.) Lightly dust each with flour. Using your fingers, press the dough evenly into tart molds, working it up the sides and smoothing the base to about ⅛ inch thick (or the width of two stacked pennies). The rim should be flush with the edge of the mold. Set the lined tart molds on a flat baking tray.

To make the custard and finish the tarts:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar in the hot water until it fully dissolves. Stir in the evaporated milk and mix well. Add the whole egg and yolk, whisking until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to ensure a silky texture with no egg strands.

2. Fill the tarts: Pour the custard carefully into each tart shell, filling about three-quarters of the way to prevent spills while walking to the oven. Next, open the oven, rest the tray on the oven door, and quickly top off the tarts to just below the rim before placing the tray on the center rack.

3. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, or until the custard is just set and barely jiggles when tapped. The tops should remain pale and glossy, with no puffing or cracking. Let cool in the molds for 10 minutes before gently unmolding. Serve warm or at room temperature. The tarts are best eaten within hours of baking, but if you must store them, keep them loosely covered at room temperature overnight. Store them in the refrigerator for up to three more days and reheat for 30 seconds in a microwave before eating.

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