Dessert Recipes

Chewy oatmeal cookies loaded with chopped dates, coconut, and walnuts or pecans. Brown sugar and orange juice add a caramel sweetness with bright citrus notes.

Crisp hazelnut meringues made with just three ingredients and slow-baked for three hours until dry and shatteringly light. A gluten-free cookie with toasty nut flavor in every bite.

Hot fudge pudding cake that bakes into chocolate cake on top with a gooey fudge sauce on the bottom. Pour hot water over the batter before baking and the oven does the magic of separating cake from sauce.

Flourless chocolate cake folded with whipped egg whites and a splash of Grand Marnier, baked low and slow for three hours into a dense, glossy gluten-free dessert.

Three-layer pineapple meringue torte with crushed pineapple cake, cashew-studded meringue baked right on top, and a pineapple whipped cream frosting.

Warm cornmeal pudding sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This traditional New England dessert bakes up creamy with a characteristic whey center, perfect with cold cream.

Cherry pie with a tapioca-thickened tart cherry filling, brightened with almond extract, lemon, and a whisper of cinnamon and clove, all tucked under a flaky shortening double crust.

Dark chocolate buttermilk cupcakes filled with whipped white chocolate ganache. These cream-filled chocolate cupcakes are tender, moist, and hideously good, with a surprise center in every bite.

Smooth chocolate glaze made by melting chocolate and butter in a double boiler, then stirring in powdered sugar. Pours silky and sets glossy on cakes or pastries.

Fig fruit cake with dried figs, candied cherries, pineapple, walnuts, brandy, and unsweetened chocolate. A spiced holiday loaf baked low and slow for dense, sliceable richness.

Halva gateau is a Middle Eastern layer cake with semolina-almond sponge, coffee syrup soak, and halva buttercream. Pistachio-topped elegance perfumed with cinnamon.

Plum torte presses Italian prune plums into a buttery cake batter, dusts with cinnamon-sugar and lemon juice, and bakes for an hour. The classic NYT September torte that freezes for winter.

Pumpkin Poundcake with Brown-Sugar-Walnut Glaze recipe

Lemon pound cake with a fine, buttery crumb and bright citrus zest, baked in a bundt or mini loaves. Old-fashioned five-egg richness with no leavening except properly creamed butter.

Tart apples baked with butter, plumped raisins, and lemon, then crowned with a golden meringue and served warm. An elegant, simple dessert that looks far harder than it is.

Classic no-bake church windows with chocolate chips, colored marshmallows, shredded coconut, and chopped nuts. Chill overnight, slice into colorful rounds. Makes 3 dozen.