Dessert recipe collection

Upside-down chocolate cake layers marshmallows and a cocoa-walnut syrup under boxed devil's food batter, baking into a gooey self-saucing chocolate dessert.

Vanilla buttermilk panna cotta with fresh strawberry jam on top. A make-ahead individual dessert that sets in small glasses and feeds six for dinner parties or date nights.

Slice-and-bake vanilla wafer cookies with powdered sugar, butter, and cream of tartar. Make the dough ahead, chill, slice thin, and bake crispy in 10 minutes.

Vanilla pecan slice-and-bake cookies from a make-ahead dough that chills into logs and freezes for up to 3 months. Crisp, buttery icebox cookies baked from frozen in 12 minutes.

Vegan brownies with chocolate sauce bake into a self-saucing pudding cake with no eggs and no dairy. Soy milk and oil keep the crumb tender, while a layer of cocoa, brown sugar, and boiling water poured over the batter sinks down into a fudgy hot sauce as it bakes.

Vegetarian mincemeat made with fresh pears, dried fruit, candied cherries, almonds, and a splash of whiskey. No suet needed. Spiced with allspice, nutmeg, and ginger for traditional Christmas mince pies.

Vegetarian mincemeat with fresh pears, mixed dried fruit, candied peel, glace cherries, dates, almonds, citrus zest, and whiskey. A meat-free version of the British holiday classic.

Cold chocolate souffle with semi-sweet chocolate chips, sweet red wine, whipped cream, and meringue set with gelatin. A dramatic chilled dessert that rises above the dish.

Cottage cheese Jello salad with dry orange Jello powder, crushed pineapple, mandarin oranges, and whipped cream. No boiling, no setting time. A fluffy, creamy retro potluck side ready in 10 minutes.

Versoffene Jungfern: a German dessert sauce of spiced red wine reduced with cinnamon, clove, and lemon zest, poured hot over fresh dumplings. Simple, warming, and ready in 40 minutes.

Old-fashioned vanilla fudge: a heritage recipe with sugar, corn syrup, milk, and butter cooked to soft-ball stage and beaten by hand until stiff. Add cocoa for chocolate fudge or fold in nuts and cherries.

Sunshine ice cream pie with layers of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet on a graham cracker crust, topped with mandarin oranges and toasted coconut. No-bake summer dessert.

Viennese baked apples are stovetop-simmered apples stuffed with raspberry jam, walnuts, and orange zest, then broiler-glazed with sugar. A classic Austrian cafe dessert.

Vinson's pecan pie is a classic Southern double-batch recipe with whole pecans, Karo corn syrup heated to blend smooth, eggs, and vanilla. Makes 2 pies for holiday tables.

Wacky cake, a Depression-era chocolate cake made with no eggs, no butter, and no milk. Vinegar and baking soda provide the rise, and cocoa powder delivers deep chocolate flavor from pantry staples.

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