Dessert Recipes

Bien Me Sabe! Layers of brandy-soaked ladyfingers, lush coconut cream filling, and golden meringue make this classic Venezuelan dessert impossible to resist. Chills overnight for the easiest showstopper.

Silver and gold angel food cake: a marbled tube cake swirling pale angel food whites with golden orange-yolk batter for a striking sliced reveal. Light, airy, and ready for fresh strawberries.

A deeply rich chocolate layer cake made with unsweetened baking chocolate, brown sugar, and a cloud of beaten egg whites for lift. Topped with sliced oranges, nutmeats, and candied ginger for a vintage twist you won't find anywhere else.

Old-school peanut butter cream pie with a hidden layer of crumbly peanut butter and powdered sugar at the bottom, topped with vanilla custard and meringue or whipped topping. A diner-counter classic.

Mango brulee with a custard made from double cream, fromage frais, and egg yolks topped with caramelized demerara sugar. A lighter take on classic creme brulee.

Bob Hope's lemon meringue pie with a bright cornstarch-thickened lemon curd in a baked pie shell, topped with sweet meringue and baked to a golden, lightly browned cap.

Mandarin orange cheesecake wrapped in crackling phyllo pastry, filled with cream cheese and ricotta, then soaked in orange blossom syrup for a Middle Eastern twist on a classic.

Flaky puff pastry spiraled around horn molds, baked golden, then piped full of sweetened whipped cream and topped with grated chocolate. A classic European pastry at home.

Grapefruit mousse: light citrus mousse with grapefruit juice, gin-spiked gelatin, and whipped cream. Layered in parfait glasses with fresh strawberries.

Key lime pie from the Pierhouse in the Florida Keys, a custardy filling of sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and tart key lime juice in a graham cracker crust. Finished with a reduced lime syrup glaze.

Apple custard cake layered on a buttery lemon shortcrust, with rum-soaked raisins and tart apples under a baked vanilla custard that sets soft and creamy. A bakery-style dessert with a boozy backbone.

Lace cookies with lemon buttercream filling, thin caramelized oat-and-molasses wafers sandwiched around a silky lemon curd buttercream. Delicate, bakery-style cookies worth the patience.

Traditional New Mexican biscochitos made with lard, egg yolks, anise, and vanilla. Rolled, cut into shapes, and baked until tender. New Mexico's official state cookie and a holiday staple.

Buttery, paper-thin ginger cookies with a double hit of crystallized and ground ginger folded into brown sugar dough. Crisp, snappy, and warmly spiced, this recipe yields four dozen from scratch.

Vintage no-bake checkerboard cake suspends torn angel food cake pieces in a chocolate-whipped-cream mousse with almonds. A retro icebox cake that sets overnight in a tube pan.

A from-scratch cheesecake with a buttery lemon shortbread crust, rich cream cheese filling, and homemade tart cherry sauce. This is the cheesecake you make when you mean business.