Dessert Recipes

Kataifi pastries: shredded phyllo rolls stuffed with walnut, almond, and spice filling, baked golden, and drenched in lemon-cinnamon honey syrup. A Greek-Middle Eastern classic.

Cherries jubilee ice cream pie swirls a brandy-spiked dark cherry sauce through vanilla ice cream in a honey-graham crust, then freezes firm. A make-ahead frozen take on the flaming dessert classic.

Brown sugar cookie dough with butter, egg yolk, vanilla, and brandy. A versatile piped or spooned wafer cookie base that bakes thin, crispy, and golden in under 10 minutes.

Rum butter sauce simmers a glossy syrup of sugar, lemon juice, butter, brandy, and both light and dark rum into a holiday dessert sauce. Pour warm over mince pie, pound cake, or steamed pudding.

A colorful overnight fruit salad marinated in brandy, brown sugar, and cinnamon with peaches, apples, oranges, strawberries, and kiwi. Gorgeous in a glass bowl for brunch or dessert.

Showstopping chocolate mousse pie with brandy-soaked chocolate-dipped cherries, a cookie crust, and a filling loaded with 12 oz of chocolate, coffee, and whipped cream.

A no-bake chocolate chestnut loaf with dark chocolate, butter, chestnut puree, and brandy. Chilled overnight into a dense, sliceable terrine. Serve with piped cream or marron glace.

A hearty bundt cake packed with oats, sesame seeds, raisins, and mixed nuts. Warm spices, rum, and brandy give it deep, earthy flavor that lives up to its name.

Eggnog pie in pecan crust: a silky, no-bake rum-and-brandy custard filling spooned into a toasted pecan crust. The grown-up Christmas pie your holiday table needs.

Lester's fruitcake is a heirloom holiday loaf: pounds of candied fruits, figs, dates, raisins, pecans, and walnuts bound in spiced molasses batter. Slow-baked, brandy-soaked, aged a month.

Victorian jewels mini fruitcakes: brandy-soaked candied fruit, raisins, and walnuts baked into tender two-bite cakes. A glossy jelly glaze gives each one its jewel-box shine. Holiday gifting star.

Pumpkin flan: a silky honey-sweetened pumpkin custard baked in a water bath with a brown sugar bottom and a splash of brandy. A fall twist on classic Spanish flan, chilled and ready in 5 hours.

Rum pecan pie with a brandied butter crust, layered chopped pecans under a mosaic of pecan halves, and a dark rum and maple-kissed filling. Holiday dessert with a grown-up flavor twist.

Macerated strawberries spooned into sherbet dishes and draped with a brandy-kissed yogurt cream, then scattered with sliced almonds and chocolate shavings. An Italian no-cook dessert ready in 30 minutes.

Crostata di ricotta is the classic Italian lattice-topped tart filled with sweetened ricotta, grappa-soaked raisins, bittersweet chocolate, and orange zest. Pasta frolla crust, dusted with powdered sugar.

Apricot brandy cake layers a tender, spice-kissed crumb with sticky apricot preserves and brandy buttercream frosting. The secret? Apricot baby food keeps the cake moist and fruit-forward with zero fuss.