Dessert Recipes

Creamy vanilla pudding pie loaded with fresh cantaloupe chunks on a buttery vanilla wafer crust, folded with whipped cream and chilled until set. A cool, fruity summer pie that tastes like sunshine.

Fudgy drop cookies packed with black walnuts and unsweetened chocolate, topped with a glossy homemade chocolate frosting. Old-fashioned, from-scratch baking that makes 2 dozen in under an hour.

Fig chess tarts with a buttery lemon-scented shortbread shell, filled with brown sugar custard studded with chopped dried figs and walnuts. A Southern chess pie translated into bite-sized tart form.

Sour cream raisin pie is an old-fashioned Midwestern custard pie with plump raisins suspended in tangy sour cream filling, scented with nutmeg and vanilla. Simple flaky crust, no meringue required.

Chocolate marshmallow drop cookies topped with a soft melted marshmallow, glossy cocoa icing, and a pecan half. Like a homemade Mallomar in cookie form, made for cookie tins and lunchboxes.

Haselnussmakronen-Hazlenut Macaroons Germany recipe

Baked on the outside - chocolate lava in the middle. Simple to make - my children make them from scratch (I think it has a lot to do with licking the mixing bowl).

A moist three-layer carrot cake loaded with freshly grated carrots and warm cinnamon, topped with rich cream cheese icing. Garnish with pecans for the ultimate crowd-pleaser.

Old-school peanut butter pie with vanilla custard filling and a peanut butter crumble layered both under and on top of the whipped cream. A diner-classic Amish-style pie that's comfort food in slice form.

The great Apple Crisp I grew up on! Maybe this is one of the reasons I had by-pass surgery!

Pig Lickin' Cake: a classic Southern layer cake made with yellow cake mix and mandarin oranges, frosted with whipped topping, vanilla pudding, and crushed pineapple. Retro potluck royalty.

Classic French creme patissiere made with egg yolks, sugar, milk, and vanilla. The essential pastry cream for tarts, eclairs, cream puffs, and fruit desserts.

Apple cake with a cinnamon-nut streusel topping, chopped apples folded into a brown sugar batter with sour milk. A tender, spiced sheet cake for fall baking.

A three-layer cake with two rich cocoa layers and one maple-walnut layer, all covered in homemade chocolate fudge frosting. Vermont cocoa cake is a New England showstopper.

Pears Helene is a classic French dessert of poached pear halves served with hot chocolate sauce and optional vanilla ice cream and chopped almonds. Elegant, timeless, and surprisingly simple to make at home.

Old-fashioned peppernut cookies (pfeffernusse) with anise, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, dark corn syrup, and chopped nuts. Slice-and-bake holiday cookies, makes 4 dozen.