Dessert Recipes

Low-fat Dutch apple cake spreads a thin, biscuit-like batter under overlapping cinnamon-sugar apples. Egg whites and skim milk keep it light, more fruit than cake in every slice.

Red velvet cake with a tender buttermilk crumb, a hint of cocoa, and tangy cream cheese frosting. The Southern classic with vinegar-and-soda lift for that signature soft texture and deep red color.

Whole wheat honey cookies use 100% whole wheat flour and honey instead of refined sugar for a wholesome drop cookie with chewy texture and nutty depth. Eight ingredients, 20 minutes start to finish, kid-lunchbox approved.

Macadamia shortbread cookies made with five ingredients: butter, flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and chopped macadamia nuts. Buttery, crumbly, and baked low and slow.

Poppyseed thumbprint cookies with Grand Marnier, orange zest, and currant jelly centers. Buttery shortbread-style cookies with a subtle crunch and jewel-toned filling.

Southern-style sweet potato pie with roasted sweet potatoes, warm spices, brown sugar, cream, and a fluffy meringue-like texture from folded egg whites.

Pumpkin apricot cake roll, a tender spiced pumpkin sponge rolled around an apricot filling. A stunning autumn dessert that looks harder than it is.

Old-fashioned Amish pie with a molasses filling topped with crumb topping. Simple, sweet, and reminiscent of shoofly pie without the gooey bottom layer.

Brown sugar vinegar pie is an Appalachian Depression-era custard pie that mimics lemon meringue using cider vinegar, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Tangy-sweet filling with butterscotch undertones in a flaky shell.

Reese's cookies loaded with peanut butter chips and milk chocolate chips in a soft, chewy drop cookie. That classic peanut butter-chocolate combo in every bite.

Bread machine Portuguese sweet bread (massa sovada): a tender, lightly sweet, lemon-scented yeast loaf enriched with eggs and evaporated milk. Set it and forget it for the Hawaiian-style bread you'd buy in a bakery.

This is one of the hottest recipes in New York right now. It was on the menu at Le Caprice and also at the buzzing new gastropub The Breslin. Now that strawberry season is almost over you can substitute raspberries with equally outstanding results.

Saucy chocolate cake that creates its own hot fudge sauce as it bakes. Cocoa batter topped with brown sugar and boiling water transforms into cake over a pool of warm chocolate pudding.

Low fat lemon poppy seed Bundt cake using yogurt and egg substitute for tender crumb without the butter. Bright citrus glaze finishes each slice.

Old-fashioned lemon chess pie with butter, sugar, eggs, and fresh lemon juice and zest. The Southern five-ingredient classic, baked into two 9-inch pies with a self-formed crackly crust on top.

Classic Italian sponge cake made with a warm egg foam, cocoa powder, and no butter at all. Light as air with a deep golden crust and tender chocolate crumb.