Dessert/5 recipes

Chocolate banana cake with Dutch-process cocoa, buttermilk, and folded egg whites for a light crumb. A single-layer 9-inch square cake dusted with powdered sugar.

No-bake refrigerator cheesecake made with cottage cheese cooked in a double boiler with lemon juice, cornstarch, and folded egg whites. Light, tangy, and set in a cinnamon graham crust.

Homemade animal crackers made with ground oatmeal, buttermilk, honey, and butter. Crispy, lightly sweet, and fun to make with kids. Just 7 simple ingredients.

Peach upside-down cake with a spiced gingerbread batter over brown sugar-glazed peach halves and cherries. A warmly spiced twist on the classic upside-down cake.

Tangy lemon curd filling in a crisp pie shell, topped with sky-high meringue swirled into golden peaks. Crowd-pleasing classic dessert.

Butterscotch grahams with brown sugar, butter, and pecans baked on graham crackers until bubbly and caramelized. A 4-ingredient, no-fuss cookie ready in under 20 minutes.

Citrus devil's food cake made with grapefruit juice instead of water or milk, creating a tangy, bittersweet chocolate cake with a cocoa-grapefruit syrup folded through the batter.

Do you adore the taste of irish cream? Well don't wait until St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy this rich cake!

Friendship cake brandied starter ferments pineapple, cherries, and peaches with sugar and brandy over 6 weeks. A slow-building fruit base you share and pass along.

Mix this vanilla crazy cake right in the baking pan with no butter, no mixer, and minimal cleanup. Pecans add crunch and swirled chocolate chips on top finish it off.

Hawaiian dump cake with cherry pie filling, crushed pineapple, yellow cake mix, coconut, and macadamia nuts. No mixing required, just layer and bake.

Cream cheese butter cookies folded into delicate lily shapes with strawberry jam peeking out the top, finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. A stunning addition to any holiday cookie tray.

Chocolate zucchini bread is a moist, cocoa-rich quick bread that hides shredded zucchini in a tender chocolate crumb. The summer garden trick that turns oversized squash into dessert.

Lower calorie pie shell with less shortening than traditional crusts. Three simple ingredients, one hour chill, and a flaky crust for any pie recipe.

Italian ricotta cheesecake with candied orange and lemon peel, golden raisins, and a splash of amaretto in a shortbread crust. Lighter and less sweet than American cream cheese cheesecake, dense in a softer way.

A traditional Appalachian stack cake with six ginger-spiced layers sandwiched together with applesauce filling, then left to meld overnight.