Dessert Recipes

Alice's chocolate cake bakes a moist two-layer cocoa cake using boiling water for extra-deep chocolate flavor, then frosts with a from-scratch buttery cocoa-powdered sugar icing. The reliable birthday cake home bakers swear by.

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.

Chocolate chip and currant pound cake with Cognac-soaked currants, semi-sweet chocolate, and a hint of cinnamon, baked in a Bundt pan and drizzled with a Cognac glaze.

Dessert crepes filled with vanilla pudding and whipped cream, topped with fresh sliced strawberries. A no-bake shortcut dessert ready in 15 minutes using instant pudding mix.

A single-layer fudgy chocolate cake with dark corn syrup, pecans, and a shiny chocolate chip glaze. Brownie-dense and intensely chocolatey, this is the kind of cake you slice thin and savor slowly.

Pumpkin roll cake with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, chopped nuts, and a sweet cream cheese filling. Rolled in a sugared towel while warm, then filled and chilled.

Chocolate zucchini tube cake using a cake mix hack with shredded zucchini folded in for extra moisture. Topped with cream cheese frosting and chopped nuts.

Diabetic-friendly lemon cream pie with a blind-baked pastry crust, tart lemon custard set with gelatin, and a light whipped topping. Bright, creamy, and sugar-free.

A four-layer Snickers pie: graham cracker crust, fudgy chocolate brownie layer studded with Snickers chunks, creamy cheesecake, and drizzled milk chocolate ganache on top. Decadent dessert overload.

Chocolate mocha macadamia cake glazed with shiny ganache. A barely-flour single-layer cake built on ground macadamias, espresso and Cognac for richness without going dry.

Viennese chocolate torte for Passover uses ground walnuts, cake meal, and potato starch in place of flour. A flourless-style torte split and filled with apricot-orange preserves and finished with a chocolate-orange glaze.

Mandarin orange sunshine cake made with yellow cake mix and canned oranges replacing the water. Frosted with a pineapple, sour cream, and vanilla pudding whipped topping.

Zucchini mock apple pie with sweet raisins folded through and a buttery crumb topping. Lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg fool the taste buds into reading squash as apple, with chewy raisins adding depth.

Orange pistachio Bundt cake made with yellow cake mix, pistachio pudding, and orange juice, marbled with chocolate syrup and topped with a cocoa glaze. A stunning retro dessert.

Apple raspberry streusel pie: tart apples and ruby raspberries bound in a cinnamon-cornstarch glaze under a buttery brown sugar crumb topping. Single-crust convenience, double-fruit flavor.

Mont Blanc dessert: a crisp meringue base ringed with piped vanilla-chestnut puree vermicelli and crowned with vanilla cream and grated dark chocolate. The classic French patisserie centerpiece.