Whisky fudge cake with melted chocolate, 16 eggs, and a generous pour of whisky baked into a dense, rich sponge. Served with clotted cream for a showstopping British-style dessert.
Fuzzy Navel Bundt cake with peach schnapps soaked peaches, yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, and chopped pecans. A boozy boomer-era potluck knockout.
Easy pumpkin loaves made with sourdough starter and biscuit mix for a shortcut spiced bread with raisins, walnuts, and a sweet golden glaze.
Thumbprint snowball cookies with walnuts, cinnamon, and lemon zest in the dough, filled with raspberry jam and dusted with powdered sugar. A festive holiday cookie.
Almond poppy seed loaf cake made with amaretto liqueur, sour cream, and butter for a rich, dense crumb studded with crunchy poppy seeds. Dusted with powdered sugar.
Spiced zucchini bread with walnuts and dates baked in mini Bundt pans, served with a pineapple cream cheese spread. Warm spices of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
Soft banana oatmeal cookies packed with walnuts, warm spices, and a tangy mashed-banana frosting. Old-fashioned cookies with a fruity lemon-bright finish.
No-bake bonbon cookies built from crushed vanilla wafers, cocoa, walnuts, and a splash of Southern Comfort, then dipped in chocolate. Chilled overnight, served cold, gone by morning.
Calas: traditional New Orleans rice fritters made from yeast-risen mashed rice dough with nutmeg, deep-fried golden and dusted with powdered sugar. A Creole street food with African roots dating to the 1700s.
Cranberry sauce cake with pecans, orange zest, and a cranberry butter frosting. Moist, fruity, and easy to mix in one bowl for holidays or anytime.
Chocolate roll-out cookies with cocoa in the dough and a tinted decorator's frosting. Cut into holiday shapes and decorate for Christmas cookie trays and gift boxes.
In a Cretan zacharoplasteion (sweet shop), we were so intrigued by these coconut pastries (among the newer breed) that I tried them at home. You can expect the potato pastry to be a bit difficult to manipulate, and you can also anticipate compliments on the results. Attractive and tasty, not excessively sweet.
Boston cream pie made lighter, a doctored yellow cake split and filled with vanilla pudding, then topped with a chocolate cocoa icing. Egg whites and fat-free fillings keep this classic dessert on the lighter side.
Favourite Doughnuts with Topping Variations recipe
Overnight cinnamon rolls with a refrigerator-rest yeast dough, swirled with cinnamon-brown-sugar butter and finished with vanilla butter icing. Make-ahead breakfast that bakes off fresh in the morning.
Buttery shortbread cookies shaped like tiny strawberries, rolled in red and green sugar crystals with almond "stems." A whimsical baking project kids will love.