Melon Sorbet with Roasted Fig, Honey and Sea Salt

This recipe comes from Justin Burditt of Miller Union. For simple syrup, combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup granulated sugar and heat just until sugar dissolves. You’ll want an ice cream maker for this, or you can freeze the mixture in a freezer-proof container and stir it every half hour or so to break up the ice crystals and make a sort of granita. Since figs are widely available from your own tree or at a farmers market, this is a perfect August dessert.

Spiced Apple Cupcakes

I hate it when I don’t remember a recipe’s provenance. But this one is too good not to share. Dust the cupcakes with a little powdered sugar, or gild the lily and mix up a maple buttercream frosting (2 sticks of butter, a few tablespoons of maple syrup and enough powdered sugar to make a spreadable frosting, all whirled up together in your food processor).

Apple-Almond Gingerbread

This recipe just showed up today in my inbox in an email from Whole Foods so I haven’t tried it yet. The quantities seem a little fiddly to me – I am always scratching my head over a recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of something plus 2 tablespoons – always figure I can skip the 2 tablespoons and usually it turns out fine. Anyway – I liked the idea of apples and gingerbread, so I’m going to give this a try. But probably with a little more apple and with regular whole wheat flour rather than the pastry flour called for.