Dessert/7 recipes

Lighter chocolate banana fudge cake made with whole wheat flour, mashed bananas, and egg whites instead of butter and yolks. Topped with a glossy cocoa glaze and chopped walnuts. Rich without the heaviness.

Ricotta souffles with raspberry sauce are light, puffed individual desserts baked in a water bath with lemon zest, vanilla, and cinnamon. Slashed open at the table and filled with bright raspberry sauce.

Cherry fruit chews are a vintage Bisquick bar studded with maraschino cherries, dates, and walnuts. Seven ingredients, one bowl, baked in a 9x13 pan. Yields four dozen retro holiday bites.

Tart apple cake brightened with lemon and a splash of rum, baked in a springform with halved apples crowning the top. Light, lemony, European-style coffee cake with dusted sugar.

Shortcut Italian sheet pan biscotti baked in a 9x13, sliced, and broiled golden. Six ingredients, 30 minutes, and you've got a tray of crispy-edged cookies with zero fuss.

Bayerische Erdbeercreme is a classic German strawberry Bavarian cream with fresh berries, whipped cream, and gelatin set in a mold. Light, elegant, and only six ingredients.

Cherry chocolate chip cookies with chopped maraschino cherries, semi-sweet chips, and almond extract in a chewy brown sugar dough. Bake 8 minutes for chewy, 13 for crisp.

No-bake lime cheesecake with gelatin-set Neufchatel filling, folded egg whites, and whipped topping for a light, airy texture. Crumb-crusted lime dessert that chills firm in 3 hours.

A Swiss showstopper: fresh plums caramelized in red wine, kirsch, and honey with pine nuts and pistachios, topped with homemade cinnamon ice cream. Serve warm or cold.

Light Pennsylvania Dutch cheesecake with low-fat cottage cheese and beaten egg whites for cloudlike texture. Sinks in the middle to cradle fresh berries or peaches.

Speedy pat-in pastry: oil-based pie crust mixed and pressed right in the pie plate. No rolling pin, no cold butter, no chilling. A reliable crust for bakers who fear pastry.

Homemade fig newton bars with fresh fig filling inside a cinnamon-laced brown sugar dough, folded like a letter and baked golden. Better than store-bought.

Fish Market apple pie layers tender McIntosh apples in a creamy sour cream custard, all baked in a cinnamon-spiced crust under a buttery cinnamon-walnut streusel. A custardy twist on classic apple pie.

Tiny heart-shaped chocolate cakes for two, made without eggs or butter. Cut from a simple cocoa sheet cake using a cookie cutter, then stacked and frosted for Valentine's Day.

White Lily pound cake bakes a classic Southern butter-and-shortening pound cake with vanilla and almond extracts in soft White Lily flour. A Southern grandmother's pound cake recipe.

French hazelnut meringue biscuit with finely ground filberts folded into whipped egg whites. Baked hot and fast for a light, nutty base layer that's a pastry chef's secret weapon.