Dessert recipe collection

Apple molasses pecan pie marries two Thanksgiving classics into one. Sliced apples and toasted pecans bound in a brandy-spiked molasses filling, finished with a buttery lattice crust.

Moist spice cake made with apricot baby food and puréed canned apricots, topped with boiled brown sugar icing.

Barbadians make Black Cake for weddings, birthdays and at Christimas time. Indeed, no Christmas holiday is felt to be complete without black Cake. People from many of the islands make a similar cake. This Black Cake derived from the British Plum Pudding which is a must on their Christmas menu.

Wholesome honey-sweetened cookies packed with oats, whole wheat flour, raisins, chopped apples, and warm cinnamon. A chewy, nutty treat you can feel good about.

A moist, no-fuss banana pineapple tube cake with cinnamon and vanilla. No mixer required. Just blend the batter by hand, pour into a tube pan, and bake until golden.

Rio Grande-style biscocitos with butter, anise seed, and brandy, dusted in cinnamon sugar before baking. Crisp, fragrant, and easy to cut into festive shapes. Makes 3 dozen.

Crunchy twice-baked biscotti packed with roasted almonds and hazelnuts, scented with vanilla, anise, and almond extract. A big-batch Italian cookie that keeps for weeks and begs to be dunked.

Four-layer spiced chocolate torte filled with apricot jam and frosted with a cocoa-espresso ricotta cream. Warm cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg give this butterless cake a complex, grown-up flavor.

Buffalo chip cookies are giant oat-and-cornflake cookies customized with raisins, peanuts, coconut, butterscotch, or chocolate chips. Yields 60 jumbo bake-sale cookies.

Traditional Pakistani gajraila with grated carrots slow-simmered in milk with rice, cardamom, slivered almonds, pistachios, and raisins. A fragrant, creamy dessert served hot or cold.

Triple chocolate oatmeal cookies with cocoa in the dough, semi-sweet chips throughout, and white chocolate dipped edges. Thick, chewy, and built for serious chocolate lovers.

Moist chocolate cake with blended prunes, buttermilk, and cinnamon, finished with a rich cooked fudge frosting. Bake in a 13x9 pan or two 8-inch rounds.

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.

Elegant lattice apple pie with orange-scented crust, honey-sweetened Granny Smith apples, and brown sugar crumb topping woven into the filling.

Old-school cocoa drop cookies made with buttermilk and whole wheat flour, topped with a glossy homemade chocolate frosting. Quick to mix, quick to bake, and yields a big batch of 4 dozen.

Cocoa sponge cake hearts cut from a sheet pan, dusted with powdered sugar, and plated with pools of raspberry sauce and chocolate syrup. A stunning Valentine's Day or special occasion dessert for 8.