Photo: sassyradish, Flickr.

The technique of browning butter is a simple one, but adds tremendous complexity to the cooking staple, infusing it with a more flavorful, nutty taste. Beurre noisette ("hazelnut butter") -- achieved by cooking butter until the milk solids and salt particles darken and the water evaporates -- works equally well in salty and sweet dishes alike, adding additional depth to savory dishes and a subtle saltiness to cloying treats.

Writes blogger Sassy Radish, "If butter is a negligee, then brown butter is the merry widow." And in her poetic ode to the transformed beurre, she reinvents the tired pound cake, making it sophisticated and lush.

An extremely versatile addition, brown butter can be used as a rich, tasty alternative in any recipe with butter, from simple yet refined vegetable dishes (Brown-Butter Mashed Potatoes, Zucchini in Pecan Brown Butter, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnut Brown Butter) to dessert indulgences, like Food and Wine's Granny Smith Apple and Brown Butter Custard Tart.

In what dishes do you like to use brown butter?

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Continuing in the trend I've established this week of featuring baked goods that are off-limits to me right now, I bring you a delicious-looking chocolate and vanilla pound cake (at least, I'm assuming that it's pound cake, based on the shape and tell-tale gleam of baked butter). Baked by Flickr user Eunnycjang, I would have a very hard time turning down a slice of this cake if it were sitting in front of me. Sadly, there's no blog post or recipe attached to this image on Flickr, so I can't tell you where to go make this beauty. However, if you've got a favorite recipe for a cake like this, shout it out in the comments.

We're coming down to the end of citrus season, but there are still enough oranges, lemons and limes out there to inspire the celebration of these flavorful and aromatic fruits. This cake is a great example of what you can do with a few lemons and oranges. The recipe is adapted from one by Ina Garten and the image is brought to us by Flickr user and blogger Amanda.

The first time I had Yumpkins (pumpkin cheesecake bars with a poundcake crust) was my freshman year of college, at a parents' weekend reception held in my residence hall. My friend Amber made them as her contribution to the dessert buffet that we served up to accompany the student/parent talent show (I realize it sounds dorky, but it was really very fun). The Yumpkins made such an impression on my mom that she asked Amber for the recipe.

Back in the summer, my mom sent me a bunch of recipes from the three-ring notebook she's been accumulating for nearly 40 years. The printed out recipe from Amber was included in the envelope, along with a note saying that Amber's mother often serves them with whipped cream, but that she find them rich enough just on their own. The recipe is after the jump.

The original pound cake got its name from the fact that it contained a pound of each of its basic ingredients: butter, sugar, flour and eggs. The average pound cake these days tends to be a bit more refined, using some sort of leavening agent in addition to eggs and often incorporating additional ingredients, such as vanilla, sour cream, heavy cream or even chocolate.

Pound cake, needless to say, is not a low fat food. It is dense, tender, buttery and something that is best eaten in small portions if you are watching what you eat. Of course, pound cake tastes so good that it can be hard to stop with just one slice. This recipe produces a lightened pound cake that is almost entirely fat free, so you don't have to stop with a mere sliver.

An ice cream sandwich is a great summer treat. Not only is it cool and tasty, but it has a little bit of nostalgia attached to it because you probably ate them as a kid, with the ice cream squishing out from between the cookies and making a mess of things. Somehow, that seemed to make it taste even better at the time.

Substituting pound cake for the cookies usually found on ice cream sandwiches is a great way to reinvent the classic dessert into something a little bit more elegant for summer entertaining. Just thinly slice up a store-bought (or homemade) pound cake and spread some softened ice cream between two slices. Wrap each serving up with plastic wrap and, when you're ready to serve, just place one on each plate and garnish with whipped cream and berries.

There is no reason that you have to use these sandwiches when entertaining, of course. You can simply stock them in your freezer and have them yourself when the mood strikes you.

Because I love to cook, it is easy to make any meal made at home romantic. All you need is a couple of candles on the table, well-cooked food, someone special and, to follow the meal, dessert. For the main course, I would choose something easy to make, something familiar. Dessert would be my focus, since I firmly believe that anything truly romantic should end with something sweet. These are my top four most romantic desserts:

Molten Chocolate Cake - Known sometimes as a chocolate lava cake, these individual serving sized cakes are menu must haves on Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, they are often poorly made, as people simply undercook a regular chocolate cake to "create" a molten center; all they are doing is allowing batter to run all over the plate. A real molten chocolate cake should have a ball of ganache placed in the center before baking, which will melt and deliver a delicious sauce that is more delicious than any cake batter could ever be. This recipe from Epicurious substitutes chocolate pieces for the truffle center, but the Chocolate Espresso Lava Cakes are excellent, nevertheless.

We love banana bread and we love pound cake, so it stands to reason that this Banana Pound Cake I found over at Sweetnicks will be a surefire hit around my house. Just look at it, in all its banana glory, dripping with a confectioners' sugar glaze. Of course, with ingredients like butter, sour cream and three CUPS of sugar (not counting the glaze) it's not exactly a low-cal treat, but hey, this is Food Porn, folks. Who cares what's good for you? We care about what looks and tastes sinfully good.