1,520 cheery recipes

Fig fruit cake with dried figs, candied cherries, pineapple, walnuts, brandy, and unsweetened chocolate. A spiced holiday loaf baked low and slow for dense, sliceable richness.

Lester's fruitcake is a heirloom holiday loaf: pounds of candied fruits, figs, dates, raisins, pecans, and walnuts bound in spiced molasses batter. Slow-baked, brandy-soaked, aged a month.

Mother's fruit cake is a brandy-soaked holiday classic with cherries, apricots, pineapple, peel, raisins, and currants bound in a spiced chocolate-scented batter. Baked slow and aged for two months.

Sour cherry fruit slump: tart cherries and summer berries bubbling under tender buttermilk dumplings, finished with cinnamon sugar. An old-school stovetop dessert that's faster than a pie.

Grilled shrimp skewered on fresh rosemary branches, marinated in lemon, garlic, and chili, then served over a bright cherry tomato and black olive salsa. A showstopping Mediterranean appetizer or light main.

Sirloin steak salad with rice, corn, black olives, cherry tomatoes, and a spicy picante-lime dressing. A Tex-Mex main dish salad with serious substance.

Cherry-stuffed cookies dipped in white and dark chocolate with chopped pecans. Each cookie hides a whole maraschino cherry inside a tender dough shell.

Grilled lean beef burgers packed with chopped dried cherries, balsamic vinegar, and Dijon mustard, served on whole wheat English muffins with homemade cherry ketchup.

Chocolate coconut cake roll spirals a light cocoa sponge around a fluffy cherry-coconut whipped cream filling. Rolled warm so it won't crack, then chilled and dusted with powdered sugar. A retro showstopper.

Emmenthaler is a dry, aged cheese that accents the flavor of asparagus. Serve as the main course of a light lunch or supper.

A vegan cornbread loaf studded with dried cherries, toasted pecans, and sesame seeds. Made with silken tofu, soy milk, and maple syrup instead of eggs and dairy. Hearty, naturally sweet, and completely plant-based.

Chocolate cherry pie with a rum-spiked chocolate custard filling, quartered maraschino cherries, and whipped cream folded in. Topped with sweetened cream and grated chocolate.

Layered no-bake pie with a rich chocolate base and creamy cherry-almond mousse studded with maraschino cherries and toasted almonds. Topped with chocolate curls.

A layered yeasted coffee cake with potato dough, cinnamon-sugar filling, and chopped almonds. Circles of soft dough are stacked and twisted into a show-stopping breakfast centerpiece glazed with powdered sugar icing.

Yuletide chocolate chip cookies loaded with candied cherries, currants, pecans, and almonds. A festive holiday cookie with brandy flavoring and warm pumpkin pie spice that ages beautifully in the cookie tin.

Chocolate fruitcake with cocoa, candied cherries, pecans, golden raisins, and mixed dried fruit, topped with a semisweet chocolate-almond glaze and toasted almonds.