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In Sweden, these shortbread cookies are traditionally cut into star shapes and garnished with pearl sugar, which can be found at specialty baking stores and online sources.

The key to making these Swedish holiday treats is to grease the mini muffin liners with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in the caramels.

This feastworthy dish, based on a recipe in Pork & Sons by Stéphane Reynaud (Phaidon, 2007), calls for fresh ham, a succulent cut from the pig’s hind leg that yields crisp skin and juicy meat.

This dish, which can be served as a side or an entrée, is from a recipe in Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo (Chronicle Books, 2009); we’ve found it works well with country ham.

This sweet, comforting dish, enriched with clarified butter, is served as a dessert throughout Gujarat, but also makes for a filling breakfast or snack.

The batter for this winter warmer can be ladled from a punch bowl into glasses.

The recipe for this dish comes from Asian Dumplings by Andrea Nguyen (Ten Speed Press, 2009).

The salty, smoky ham known as speck is a traditional ingredient in this tart; bacon is a good substitute.

This decadent triple-layer dessert takes its name from German’s Sweet Chocolate.

Gingerbread cookies like these are popular in Sweden during the holidays.

Reddish orange saffron imparts a golden hue and a faintly spicy flavor to these buns.

These truffles are coated in shredded coconut, which provides a pleasing contrast to the rich chocolate.

This dessert, topped with crushed peppermint candies, is one of many versions of kola, a kind of semisoft toffee adored all over Sweden.