Dessert Recipes

Jam tarts press tender cream cheese pastry around dollops of fruit jam for bite-size, flaky tea-time pastries with golden browned edges. A 7-ingredient throwback for the cookie tin.

Johnny Appleseed cake made with whole wheat flour, applesauce, honey, raisins, and walnuts. An egg-free spice cake sweetened naturally without refined sugar.

Jumbles are a colonial-era ring-shaped cookie scented with rosewater, caraway, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Crisp, buttery, and dusted with sugar. A historical American recipe from the 1700s.

Jumbles are old-fashioned filled sandwich cookies, two rolled rounds enclosing a smear of grape jelly with three peek-a-boo windows cut into the top. Vintage pantry treat.

Käsetorte is the German cheesecake with a buttery shortcrust pressed into a springform and topped with cream cheese filling thickened by vanilla pudding mix. Lighter and softer than New York-style, with old-world Bavarian charm.

Kalyan made this for us while visiting for Christmas. He called it "paravannam."

Fruitcake drop cookies with brandy, candied cherries, dates, candied pineapple, and nuts. All the holiday fruitcake flavor in a bite-sized cookie that bakes in 12 minutes.

Key lime dessert cups, a no-bake mousse-style chilled dessert with cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and whipped topping. Tangy-sweet single-serve treats ready in minutes.

Hawaiian-inspired apple pie poached in pineapple juice instead of baked. A no-bake filling in a pre-baked crust, topped with whipped cream and chopped macadamia nuts.

Kolachkes are Polish-American cream cheese cookies: a tender butter-and-cream-cheese dough wrapped around fruit jam, walnut, or sweet cheese filling. Rolled in powdered sugar instead of flour.

Kumquat pecan crepes are filled with a frangipane-style pecan butter and chopped preserved kumquats, baked golden, then flambeed tableside with warm cognac. A grown-up dessert with theatrical presentation.

Layered apple cake with cinnamon-sugar apple slices tucked between three tiers of orange juice-brightened batter. A dramatic tube pan cake that reveals a stripe of fruit in every slice.

Layered banana pudding made from scratch with brown sugar custard, whipped cream, sliced bananas, and optional walnuts. Rich, creamy, and no box mix needed.

Three-layer espresso jellies stack coffee gelatin, a dark chocolate Marsala layer, and vanilla-bean whipped cream in tall glasses. A tiramisu-inspired make-ahead dessert with restaurant presentation.

Le Bisse are traditional S-shaped butter cookies with lemon zest, made from a simple egg-butter-flour dough. Crisp and golden, these French-style cookies have an elegant shape and delicate crumb.

Lemon baked Alaska with brandy-soaked lemon cake, lemon ice cream, and toasted meringue. A showstopping flambe dessert that browns in a hot oven and gets lit tableside.