Dessert Recipes

Key lime roll cake filled with lime-spiked lemon pie filling and frosted with whipped topping. A light, tangy jelly roll dessert tinted pale green and garnished with lime slices.

Aunt Catherine's Italian Cookies: a heirloom cookie with almond extract, cinnamon, and chopped nuts, finished in pastel-colored powdered sugar icing. Stores for months in tins.

Steamed persimmon pudding with cinnamon spice, raisins, and chopped almonds. Dense, moist loaf baked in a water bath and served warm with hard sauce.

Classic New Orleans king cake: a brioche-like yeast ring scented with nutmeg and lemon, filled with citron, glazed with lemon icing and purple-green-gold sugar. Mardi Gras tradition baked at home.

Fudgy brownie bars loaded with chopped pecans and topped with golden toasted marshmallows. From bowl to oven to mouth in 35 minutes. A bake sale knockout.

Strufoli are tiny Italian fried dough balls drizzled with warm honey and topped with rainbow sprinkles. A classic Neapolitan Christmas dessert shaped into a festive mound or wreath.

Light peach Bavarian cream dessert made with pureed peaches, peach yogurt, whipped egg whites, and real cream set with gelatin for an airy, no-bake treat.

Cornmeal cookies blend stone-ground cornmeal with flour for a sandy, slightly crunchy crumb. Studded with dried cherries or raisins and warmed with nutmeg. An Italian-American Christmas tin staple.

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 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.

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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.

Fat-free oatmeal cookies sweetened with mashed banana, applesauce, and brown sugar. No butter, no oil. Whole wheat flour and oats give them satisfying chew. Vegan-friendly with optional raisins and sesame.

Hot zabaglione is the classic Italian dessert: egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala whipped over a double boiler into a warm, frothy custard served in glasses. Three ingredients, ready in 15 minutes, restaurant-quality elegance.

Sabayon (zabaglione) whisks egg yolks, sugar, and dry white wine over a double boiler into a foamy custard, folded with whipped cream and Grand Marnier. Spooned over fresh cherries for an elegant dessert.

Hearty oatmeal raisin cookies loaded with rolled oats, plump raisins, and crunchy bran flake cereal for extra texture and fiber. Crisp at the edges, chewy in the middle, and a smart way to use up the cereal box.