Dessert Recipes

A New Orleans-style charlotte: chocolate sponge rolled with almond paste, sliced and pressed into a springform, filled with amaretto-soaked chocolate mousse. A Mardi Gras showstopper.

Decadent chocolate mousse cake: a light, airy chocolate cake kissed with orange liqueur and zest, made by folding whipped egg whites into a rich chocolate batter, then frosted with chocolate mousse.

Eggless chocolate cake bakes up tender and rich with no eggs needed. A vintage Depression-era recipe that uses melted unsweetened chocolate, milk, and pantry basics for a dependable layer cake.

Ginger-almond florentines: thin, lacy caramel cookies with crystallized ginger, toasted almonds, and citrus zest, finished with a smooth chocolate coating on the flat side.

Rich chocolate cookies with a gooey caramel candy hidden inside, topped with chopped pecans and drizzled with melted fondant. Makes 4 dozen stuffed cookies.

Ritz crackers sandwiched with peanut butter and dipped in melted chocolate. A 3-ingredient no-bake treat that's salty, sweet, crunchy, and ridiculously addictive.

A silky, boozy chiffon pie with a half cup of cognac folded into whipped cream and egg yolk custard, set in a graham cracker crust and garnished with shaved chocolate.

Classic French silk chocolate pie with a rich, mousse-like filling of creamed butter, sugar, melted chocolate, and eggs beaten to silky perfection. No baking required for the filling.

Frozen rum cream pie with an Oreo crust, gelatin-set filling whipped airy with cream, and shaved chocolate on top. Makes two 9-inch pies for parties or freezer storage. Pure boozy nostalgia.

Jellyroll layer cake with spiced sponge strips rolled into a spiral and frosted with English toffee icing. Looks like a regular cake but slices reveal vertical swirl layers.

Best of class senior contest--1950 Pillsbury Cookoff. This is a simple cake that looks fancy.

The full showpiece version of Bruno's flourless Italian chocolate cake: three layers filled with rum-spiked chocolate whipped cream, wrapped in alternating dark and white chocolate strips, and garnished with chocolate leaves.

Homemade caramel banana ice cream with chocolate chips, made from real caramelized sugar, heavy cream, egg yolks, and smashed bananas. Rich, custardy, and worth the churn.

Chocolate toffee flan cakes: no-bake dessert with marshmallow cream filling, melted chocolate, whipped topping, and chopped Heath bar crowns. Quick make-ahead party sweet.

Creamy homemade coffee fudge topped with a glossy layer of melted chocolate and chopped nuts. Old-fashioned candy-making that yields about 49 squares of pure indulgence.

Mocha meringue pie with a chocolate-pecan meringue crust standing in for pastry. Coffee ice cream fills the crisp shell and freezes solid, topped with whipped cream and chocolate curls. A pour of Kahlua over each slice finishes it.