Dessert/8 recipes

Chocolate angel food layer cake baked in heart-shape pans. Fat-free, cloud-light, cocoa-scented sponge made with egg whites and cake flour. No butter, no yolks.

Red pear sorbet grates ripe red pears with their skins on for a delicately pink, naturally textured frozen dessert. Simple syrup and lemon juice amplify the pear flavor. No peeling required.

Instead of rice, this Christmas pudding is made with pearl barley, cinnamon and sugar. Pearly barley makes the pudding taste delicious and creamy while provides lots of goodness. Serve it with some chopped nuts and rose water if needed.

Apple molasses pecan pie marries two Thanksgiving classics into one. Sliced apples and toasted pecans bound in a brandy-spiked molasses filling, finished with a buttery lattice crust.

Warm butter sauce with a hint of rum extract, made with just 4 ingredients in 20 minutes. Drizzle over bread pudding, pound cake, pancakes, or warm fruit desserts.

Rich chocolate pound cake baked in a bundt pan with a velvety cream cheese buttercream frosting. Dense, buttery, cocoa-packed, and built to impress at any gathering.

Genoise sponge cake soaked in Amaretto and filled with whipped chocolate ganache. A classic French-Italian dessert with lemon zest in the cake and piped chocolate decoration.

Classic double-crust apple pie with cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh lemon juice in a buttery pate brisee shell. Three pounds of Northern Spy or McIntosh apples baked golden and bubbling.

Passover loukoumades are Greek-Jewish fried dough balls made with matzo meal instead of flour, soaked in spiced orange-lemon syrup and crowned with crushed pistachios.

Corn flake macaroons with grated peanuts and almond extract. Flourless drop cookies that bake up crispy on the edges and chewy in the center. No coconut, no flour, just crunch.

Old-fashioned cold water cake with muscat raisins, warm spices, and no eggs or butter. A Depression-era boiled raisin cake that bakes up dense, spiced, and deeply satisfying.

Rice Krispies treats elevated with nougat candy bars, marshmallows, toasted almonds, and butter. No-bake squares with chewy-crispy texture.

Easy to make and turns out moist and fluffy using pistachio pudding mix.

An authentic Dutch cheesecake made with grated Gouda cheese instead of cream cheese, lightened with beaten egg whites and studded with golden raisins. Baked in a shortbread tart crust with lemon.

Chewy drop cookies made with graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, and a full bag of mini chocolate chips. Like s'mores in cookie form, with crisp edges and a soft, gooey center.

Cold orange truffle souffles: an airy Grand Marnier orange mousse set in collared ramekins to rise like a baked souffle, each hiding a chocolate truffle in its center. A no-bake, make-ahead showstopper dessert.