Dessert Recipes

Rich West Indian Christmas cake soaked in rum and sherry with dried fruits, warm spices, and browning for deep color. Start the fruit a month ahead for a dense, boozy holiday cake worth the wait.

Old-fashioned mincemeat pie filling made with real ground beef, apples, raisins, cider, and warm baking spices. A blue-ribbon recipe that freezes in batches so you're always ready for pie season.

A very old recipe from Venice, Italy, a delicious cheesecake with raisins

Apple raisin sour cream crumb pie nestles sliced apples and plump raisins under a tangy sour cream custard and a buttery cinnamon crumb topping. A Dutch-style fall pie with three textures in one slice.

Traditional mincemeat with real beef and suet, the way it was made for centuries before the meatless version took over. Currants, raisins, apples, brandy, and warming spices simmer into a deeply flavored pie filling. Yields 80 servings.

Super moist friendship cake starts with a 30-day brandied fruit starter, layering peaches, pineapple, and cherries, then bakes into a tender, fruit-and-nut loaf. The shareable holiday baking tradition.

Applesauce raisin spice cake: a moist Bundt cake built on plumped raisins, unsweetened applesauce, and 3 tablespoons of cinnamon. No butter, just oil for a tender crumb that stays moist for days.

Mrs Fields apple cobbler cookies loaded with chopped Granny Smith apples, apple butter, raisins, and pecans, rolled in a cinnamon-oat crumb coating. Fall baking at its finest.

Emily Dickinson's black cake, a dense Victorian fruitcake with brandy, molasses, raisins, currants, and citron spiced with cloves, mace, and cinnamon. Baked low and slow.

Barbadians make Black Cake for weddings, birthdays and at Christimas time. Indeed, no Christmas holiday is felt to be complete without black Cake. People from many of the islands make a similar cake. This Black Cake derived from the British Plum Pudding which is a must on their Christmas menu.

An old Welsh steamed carrot pudding -- This is a good steamed pudding, despite the list of ingredients that are "good for you". The sauce (following the recipe) is not a necessity for good taste, only for authenticity, although I LIKE it with the sauce.

Carrot cake layered with grated carrots, crushed pineapple, walnuts, coconut, and raisins, topped with orange-scented cream cheese frosting. Three layers of moist, spiced cake that gets better overnight.

This is a new treat in our house, but we are loving it. My son loves filling the apples with the dry mixture and snagging raisins when he thinks I’m not looking. Happy cooking!

"This cake is a rich, dark, moist fruit cake, very flavorful at Christmas. Try icing with almond paste for a more festive touch. This recipe is started in October or November so as to let it mellow before the holidays. I remember very well my mother storing her fruit cake in an old butter churn that belonged to my grandmother and great grandmother. I wish that I had that old crock."

Wholesome autumn apple muffins made with bran, oats, whole wheat flour, yogurt, and plump raisins. Naturally low in sugar with warm cinnamon spice and grated apple in every bite. Ready in 45 minutes.

Forget rock-hard biscotti that threaten your teeth. This butter-rich Italian cookie bakes up tender enough to eat without dunking, studded with raisins and nuts in every bite.