127 dark recipes

Old-fashioned baked beans made from dried navy beans, slow-baked 7 hours with bacon, molasses, dark rum, and a surprise hit of curry powder. From-scratch comfort that earns every minute.

Rich chocolate cupcakes hiding a cream cheese and chocolate chip center that stays molten and gooey. The cocoa batter gets its lift from vinegar and baking soda, yielding a tender, fudgy crumb. Makes 3 dozen crowd-pleasers.

Simple walnut raisin cake with brown sugar and warm spices, simmered then baked low and slow for moist tender squares ready in an hour.

Galliano barbecue sauce with ketchup, chili sauce, dark brown sugar, and lemon juice. An Italian liqueur twist on classic BBQ sauce for ribs, chicken, or burgers.

Homemade Filipino-style banana ketchup simmered with raisins, tomato paste, allspice, cayenne, and dark rum. Sweet, tangy, and warmly spiced. Makes 3.5 cups and keeps for a month.

Scotch toffee bars made with rolled oats, brown sugar, dark corn syrup, and butter, baked crisp then topped with melted chocolate and chopped nuts. Chewy, crunchy, and no-fuss.

Slow cooker baked beans with bacon, Rotel tomatoes, green chiles, dark brown sugar, and garlic. Cooked 12 to 14 hours in a crock pot for deep, smoky-sweet flavor.

Pina colada layer cake with a rum-soaked chiffon base, crushed pineapple filling, coconut buttercream frosting, and toasted coconut. The cocktail, in cake form.

Fig rum loaf with dried figs, dark rum, orange zest, and chopped walnuts. A dense, aromatic quick bread that improves with an overnight rest, perfect for holiday baking and gifting.

Whipped cream fruit salad with pineapple, dark cherries, bananas, dates, marshmallows, and chopped nuts. A retro no-cook dessert salad ready in 5 minutes.

Poires Belle Helene, the classic French dessert of vanilla-poached pears served with vanilla ice cream and warm dark chocolate sauce. Elegant and timeless.

Southern peanut butter pie built like a peanut pecan pie hybrid: dark corn syrup, eggs, creamy peanut butter, and salted peanuts baked into a chewy, gooey filling. A pecan pie with all the peanuts in the South.

Sturdy gingerbread house dough made with shortening, dark corn syrup, and warming spices. Holds its shape for construction. The classic holiday project base.

Gingerbread cookies in a gingerbread bowl: edible holiday centerpiece of spiced gingerbread shaped into a fluted bowl and filled with matching cut-out cookies. A holiday gift-giving showstopper.

Twice-baked Italian biscotti loaded with almonds and walnuts, spiked with dark rum and amaretto. Crunchy dunking cookies with warm cinnamon spice, perfect for coffee or dessert wine.

Rum raisin bundt cake made with ripe bananas, dark rum, walnuts, and allspice. A moist, no-fuss batter baked in a fluted tube pan and dusted with powdered sugar.