14 Pastry Recipes to Improve Your Baking Skills

Let's get back to basics, people!

Making pastries can be one of the most daunting kitchen projects for novice bakers. For some pastries, like croissants, this reputation is justified—especially if you're inexperienced and working from a recipe that skimps on details. Luckily, there are whole categories of pastry recipes that are relatively easy: choux pastries all start from a simple base; phyllo-based recipes don't even require that you make a dough. Below, we've compiled a balanced selection of pastry recipes, ranging from savory to sweet, easy to advanced. Regardless of your skill level or the difficulty of the pastry project, we provide ample guidance and detail to ensure your success.

Pistachio Baklava

With layers of buttery phyllo dough and nuts drenched in simple syrup or honey, homemade baklava—or bak-la-wa in Arabic—is the ultimate sweet treat.

Get Recipe: Pistachio Baklava

Cream Puffs

These light and crisp cream puffs are made with just two elements: airy nuggets of pâte à choux and a filling of your choice. Whether you choose to fill them with rich pastry cream, whipped cream, or crème légère, these puffs will satisfy dessert lovers everywhere.

Get Recipe: Cream Puffs

Choux au Craquelin

For this decadent iteration of the cream puff, each piped mound of pâte à choux is topped with a chilled disc of dough made with butter, flour, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. Once baked, the choux puffs are topped with a layer of crunchy, caramel-flavored deliciousness. For an easier route to choux puffs with a nice crunchy sugar topping, see Daniel's recipe for chouquettes.

Get Recipe: Choux au Craquelin

Profiteroles

Another filling option for choux puffs: ice cream. These light and crisp ice cream “sandwiches” are finished with a healthy drizzle of warm chocolate sauce.

Get Recipe: Profiteroles

Gougères (Choux Pastry Cheese Puffs)

Adding Gruyère cheese to choux puffs transforms them from a mere vessel for pastry cream and other sweet fillings into an elegant snack for passing around with flutes of Champagne.

Get Recipe: Gougères (Choux Pastry Cheese Puffs)

Paris–Brest (Pâte à Choux With Praline Crème Mousseline)

Almond-studded choux pastry and rich, nutty praline join forces in this impressive French dessert.

Get Recipe: Paris-Brest (Pâte à Choux With Praline Crème Mousseline)

Classic Éclairs

For this classic pastry, crisp logs of choux pastry are filled with a rich vanilla bean–infused pastry cream and then coated on one side with an intense chocolate glaze.

Get Recipe: Classic Éclairs

Croquembouche

The grand finale of our tour of choux pastry recipes: croquembouche, the celebration cake of France. This towering masterpiece of caramel-covered cream puffs is draped in golden threads of spun sugar. A classier dessert does not exist.

Get Recipe: Croquembouche

Cheese Danish

These ultra-flaky Danishes are rich with butter and filled with sweet, tangy cream cheese.

Get Recipe: Cheese Danish

Tarte Tatin

For this classic dessert, tender caramelized apples glisten atop crisp pastry. For a more foolproof tarte Tatin, soak your apples in hot water and decrease the pH of your filling.

Get Recipe: Tarte Tatin

Croissants

Croissants are the pastry holy grail for many home bakers. This comprehensive recipe will hold your hand from dough rolling to shaping to proudly pulling lovely, flaky croissants out of the oven.

Get Recipe: Croissants

Kanafeh (Middle Eastern Cheese and Phyllo Dessert)

Filled with salty cheese and drenched in a floral syrup, kanafeh—a phyllo dessert found throughout the Middle East—is a study in contrasts.

Get Recipe: Kanafeh (Middle Eastern Cheese and Phyllo Dessert)

Daan Tat (Hong Kong-Style Egg Tart)

With its silky, sweet egg custard filling encased by crisp and tender puff pastry, this tart is believed to have originated in Canton (now Guangzhou) around the 1920s. In this recipe, a combination of water, evaporated milk, and extra yolks allows the egg flavor to really come through in the custard.

Get Recipe: Daan Tat (Hong Kong-Style Egg Tart)

Borek (Armenian Spinach and Cheese Turnovers)

These phyllo triangles are filled with a mixture of spinach, tangy cheeses, and aromatic herbs and brushed with clarified butter for crispiness.

Get Recipe: Borek (Armenian Spinach and Cheese Turnovers)

Read the original article on Serious Eats.