Dessert Recipes

Patty Ann's cheese cake tarts: bite-size cream cheese pastry shells with two fillings, pecan and coconut. Muffin-tin desserts for holiday cookie trays.

Old-school lard pie crust with egg, vinegar, and a touch of brown sugar. One batch yields four disks for double-crust pies. The flakiest crust comes from cold lard worked into the size of tiny peas.

A moist tube cake where grated apples meet cocoa, cinnamon, allspice, and chocolate chips. Baked low and slow for a dense, spiced crumb that's part apple cake, part chocolate cake, and entirely irresistible.

A self-saucing cocoa espresso pudding cake that creates its own hot fudge layer as it bakes. Boiling water poured over the batter before baking does all the work. Serve warm for 6 to 8.

Double chocolate chip cookies with cocoa-rich dough, buttermilk for tang and tender texture, and semi-sweet chocolate chips throughout. Soft-set centers and chewy edges every time.

Peanut butter chocolate chip pound cakes made with buttermilk for a tender crumb, loaded with mini chocolate chips. Bakes into four mini loaves with rich, nutty flavor.

Aniseed biscotti from Genoa, twice-baked into long, crisp logs scented with whole anise seed. A yeast-raised dough makes them lighter and more bread-like than the typical Tuscan biscotti, ideal for dunking in coffee or sweet wine.

Artichoke heart spice cake: a moist bundt cake with pureed artichoke hearts (think zucchini cake's sneaky cousin) plus cinnamon, clove, walnuts, and raisins. The artichokes disappear, the moisture stays.

Peanut butter and honey rice pudding. A nutritious and delicious dessert.

Old-fashioned Canadian jam jam cookies: oatmeal and brown sugar rounds sandwiched around a homemade date filling. A prairie-farmhouse classic with a soft, chewy bite.

Granny Smith apple pie with a flaky homemade crust and a buttery brown sugar crumble topping spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. From-scratch apple pie the way it should be.

Classic French tarte Tatin with 5 pounds of Golden Delicious apples baked in caramel and topped with flaky puff pastry. A showstopping upside-down dessert worth the effort.

Friendship-starter prune cake spiced with cinnamon and studded with chopped walnuts and stewed prunes. A moist, sourdough-tinged sheet cake from the Amish friendship-bread tradition.

Mississippi mud bars layer fudgy pecan-studded brownies under a glossy chocolate frosting and another shower of toasted pecans. Cut into small bars, they yield over four dozen from one 9x13 pan. Southern bake-sale royalty.

Espresso chocolate chunk cookies with cocoa, coffee liqueur, and dark brown sugar. Rich, fudgy mocha cookies baked low and slow for a dense, chewy center.

Honey almond parfait is a frozen mousse-style dessert with whipped cream, honey-sweetened sabayon, and toasted sliced almonds. A French-inspired semifreddo that skips the ice cream machine.