Dessert, Baked Good Recipes

No-bake cocoa bourbon balls made with crushed vanilla wafers, pecans, powdered sugar, and a generous pour of bourbon. Roll in fruit sugar, chopped pecans, or cocoa powder. Ready in 15 minutes.

Pineapple ice box cake, a vintage no-bake dessert with lemon gelatin and whipped cream folded with crushed pineapple, layered between vanilla wafer crumbs. Chilled overnight for sliceable dessert.

Tiny cookie cups filled with a rich pecan-Kahlua topping.

Chocolate pecan pie with melted semisweet chocolate and butter swirled into a classic corn syrup filling. Rich, fudgy, and loaded with pecan halves in a flaky pastry shell.

Foolproof meringue that never weeps or shrinks, stabilized with a cornstarch paste mixed into the egg whites. Golden brown in 30 minutes on any cream pie.

Southern jam cake with blackberry jam, buttermilk, raisins, and pecans baked low and slow in three spiced layers. Topped with a boiled cream frosting that drips down the sides just like it should.

Spotted chocolate cheesecake with lychee sauce features cream cheese and mascarpone filling, piped white "spots," and a fragrant lychee-lemon puree. A showstopper dessert.

Brandy-laced bundt pound cake served with a saffron-tinted lemon curd. The classic 1-1-1 pound cake gets a boozy lift, while saffron steeped in lemon juice turns the cream sunset gold.

German chocolate layered apple cake with sliced apples and cinnamon-nut batter in alternating layers, topped with cream cheese frosting. A semi-homemade cake that tastes fully from scratch.

Traditional Tuscan cavallucci spice cookies built from a hot sugar syrup kneaded with walnuts, candied orange peel, and warm spices like clove, anise, and cinnamon. Chewy, perfumed, and unmistakably medieval.

Honey cheesecake sweetened with three-quarters cup of pure honey instead of granulated sugar, on a loose graham cracker base. Topped with strawberries and blueberries glazed with apricot jam.

Rocky road cheesecake cups with a chocolate wafer crust, cocoa-sour cream filling, mini marshmallows, and chopped almonds. Individual-sized cheesecakes baked in muffin cups.

Lemon almond madeleines: classic French shell-shaped tea cakes with ground almonds and fresh lemon zest, finished with powdered sugar. Twenty-four buttery cookies for tea time.

Peanut butter meringue cream pie with a silky stovetop custard, a whisper of ginger, and golden-peaked meringue. A diner classic with proper technique behind every step.

Crispy oatmeal cookies that spread thin with lacy, caramelized edges that shatter when you bite. A high butter-to-flour ratio and quick oats deliver crunch, not chew. Optional nuts and raisins.

Spiced pear cake with oats, brown sugar, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Soaked oats add moisture and a hearty, rustic texture to every slice.