Dessert Recipes

Jam cake with caramel icing, a three-layer Southern spice cake built around blackberry jam, cinnamon, and allspice, blanketed with soft-ball-stage caramel icing made from brown sugar, butter, and cream.

Rich chocolate cake with cocoa, buttermilk, and a hot-water finish for an extra-moist crumb. The classic one-bowl chocolate sheet cake that bakes up dense, dark, and tender every time.

Friendship-starter prune cake spiced with cinnamon and studded with chopped walnuts and stewed prunes. A moist, sourdough-tinged sheet cake from the Amish friendship-bread tradition.

Southern blackberry jam cake with allspice, cinnamon, raisins, and chopped nuts in a buttermilk batter, frosted with cooked caramel icing and pecan halves. A three-layer heritage cake.

Winner of the 1991 Michigan Chocolate Cake Contest Created by Linda Theil

From-scratch German chocolate cake with sweet chocolate melted in boiling water, buttermilk batter with folded egg whites, and a coconut-pecan frosting cooked on the stovetop.

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's red velvet cake: a true vintage Southern recipe with cocoa, buttermilk, and vinegar reacting with baking soda to give the cake its tender, tangy crumb. Two 9-inch layers, ready in 45 minutes.

Old-fashioned date and nut drop cookies spiced with cinnamon and cloves, made with egg yolks and buttermilk. A chewy, fruit-studded holiday cookie with a nostalgic name.

Rich cocoa chocolate cake with buttermilk and boiling water, frosted with a fluffy marshmallow icing. Triple-sifted dry ingredients and a double boiler frosting make this a showstopper.

Old-fashioned Canadian jam jam cookies: oatmeal and brown sugar rounds sandwiched around a homemade date filling. A prairie-farmhouse classic with a soft, chewy bite.

A scrumptious low-fat cake that is perfect snack to have while enjoying a relaxing night on the couch.

It was nice and moist, if a tad on the heavy side. The recipe is actually for cupcakes, but can make one big layer. The frosting is outstanding, a definite keeper.

Layered mocha chocolate torte with bloomed cocoa cake, espresso-spiked ermine filling, pecans, and creamy white frosting. Four-layer celebration cake.

Old-fashioned oatmeal icebox cookies made with brown sugar, lard, butter, and buttermilk. Slice-and-bake dough that chills overnight for thin, crispy oat cookies.

Parisian Sophisticates: almond-vanilla buttermilk cupcakes hollowed out and filled with airy chocolate truffle mousse, topped with toasted cake crumbs. Vintage tea-party fancy.