Dessert Recipes

Election Day cake, a historic New England yeast-raised spice cake studded with raisins, citron and nuts, warmed with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and mace, and glazed with confectioners' sugar. A colonial American tradition.

Old English yeasted Christmas cake spiced with cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, and caraway seeds. A buttery yeast-risen holiday loaf, closer to brioche than to fruitcake.

Bourbon pumpkin pie with a broiled pecan praline topping and apricot glaze on the crust. This showstopper Thanksgiving dessert layers three distinct textures in one unforgettable slice.

Southern blackberry jam cake spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Buttermilk tang, raisins, and nuts in a moist layer cake straight out of an Appalachian heirloom box.

Oatmeal date walnut cookies blend chewy chopped dates with crunchy walnuts in a brown-sugar-and-cinnamon spiced dough. Three full cups of oats per batch make these hearty enough for breakfast.

Washington apple cake packed with three cups of fresh chopped apples and crunchy walnuts, warm with cinnamon and nutmeg. An oil-rich, ultra-moist tube cake served with a cloud of sweetened whipped cream.

A frozen pumpkin pie made with vanilla ice cream and a spiced pecan-gingersnap crust. Creamy, no custard to bake, and made entirely ahead in the freezer. A cool twist on pumpkin pie.

French apple spice cake with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, chopped walnuts, and raisins. An oil-based one-bowl cake that starts by macerating apples in sugar.

Soft ginger cream cookies spiced with ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon, sweetened with molasses, and topped with vanilla or orange frosting. This big-batch recipe makes 6 dozen.

Zimtsterne, traditional German cinnamon stars made from ground almonds and hazelnuts bound with meringue and barely any flour, spiced with cinnamon and topped with a white icing. A chewy holiday classic.

Simple eggless spice raisin cake with cinnamon, nutmeg, and plump raisins. A pantry-staple loaf cake with no eggs, no milk, ready in an hour. Great for surprise visitors.

Old-fashioned prune and pecan spice cake with buttermilk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, topped with a hot buttermilk icing poured on while still baking.

Grandma Riel's apple pie heaps tart Granny Smiths over a flour-and-sugar bottom layer, then dots with butter under a sugar-crackled crust. A heritage double-crust pie that bakes thick and never weeps.

Granny's apple cranberry pie folds tangy cranberry sauce into a spiced apple filling for a ruby-red, sweet-tart twist on classic apple pie, baked in a flaky double crust. A festive holiday favorite.

From-scratch pumpkin pie with fresh or canned pumpkin, dark brown sugar, molasses, raisins, and toasted pecans. Richer and more complex than the back-of-the-can version.

Apple Cake for the barbecue. This is absolutely the best apple cake that I have ever had, or made!