Dessert Recipes

Mayonnaise spice cake with raisins, cinnamon, cloves, and chopped nuts. No eggs or butter needed. The mayo keeps this old-fashioned cake incredibly moist with a tender, spiced crumb.

A lightly spiced breakfast cake made with applesauce and bran for natural moisture, studded with raisins and nuts for texture.

Wacky cake (Depression-era chocolate cake) made with no eggs, no milk, no butter. Vinegar and baking soda lift it to fluffy chocolate perfection in one pan.

Apfelquarkkuchen, the German apple and cream cheese kuchen, layers a tender yeast-dough base with cinnamon-tossed Granny Smith apples and a sweetened cream cheese topping. Traditional bakery-style.

Baked pumpkin empanadas with a brandy-laced pastry dough and spiced pumpkin-brown sugar filling, finished with cinnamon sugar. A Mexican-Californian fall dessert pastry.

English cheese pie with sieved cottage cheese, cream sherry, rosewater, and currants in a from-scratch butter pastry crust. A fragrant Tudor-era custard dessert.

The original NYT plum torte: a quick one-bowl butter cake topped with halved plums and cinnamon sugar that sink into a jammy, custardy top as it bakes. The most-requested recipe in Times history.

Rich and fudgy brownies with a delightful frosting. You'd never know they contained zucchini!

Cake and yeast risen bread combined with apples and cream cheese. It's like apple strudel bread on steroids.

An authentic Dutch cheesecake made with grated Gouda cheese instead of cream cheese, lightened with beaten egg whites and studded with golden raisins. Baked in a shortbread tart crust with lemon.

Fruit cocktail cake is a one-bowl dump cake mixed straight in the pan with canned fruit cocktail, flour, sugar, and eggs. Old-fashioned potluck dessert with zero fuss.

Silky tofu blended with brown sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice, poured into a graham cracker crust and baked until set. A no-fuss vegan cheesecake that's creamy, lightly sweet, and ready in one hour with zero dairy.

Crunchy twice-baked biscotti packed with walnuts, orange and lemon zest, and a surprising kick of black pepper. The ideal coffee-dunking cookie that stores beautifully in tins.

Spiced apple cake layered with cinnamon-nutmeg McIntosh apples and topped with a brown sugar walnut crumble. Baked in a 13x9 pan with orange juice in the batter.

Strawberry cheesecake pie layers a tangy lemon-cream cheese filling in a flaky crust, piled with fresh strawberries and topped with a glossy cooked strawberry glaze. Part cheesecake, part strawberry pie, all chilled.

Old German muffins with ground almonds, rum, orange zest, raisins, and cinnamon. Buttery, fragrant, and lightly spiced with a hint of boozy warmth in every bite.