Dessert/4 recipes

No-bake strawberry lemonade bars: a creamy, tangy filling of cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and fresh strawberries over a graham crust. A cool, no-oven summer dessert.

A decadent and delicious Passover layer cake. The center is filled with apricot preserves and the cake frosted with a rich whipped chocolate frosting.

Indiana fresh rhubarb creme pie with scalded rhubarb in a custard of egg yolks, sugar, and flour, optionally topped with meringue. A heritage Midwestern spring pie.

A warmly spiced sheet cake made with sour cream, raisins, and walnuts, sweetened with brown sugar replacement. Cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg fill every moist slice with cozy fall flavor. Diabetic-friendly and feeds a crowd.

Pear and anise skillet tart with caramelized sugar, fresh pears arranged spoke-fashion, and a lemon-anise pastry crust baked on top then flipped. A tarte tatin-style dessert with warm licorice notes.

Cookies in a bag combine chocolate chips, chocolate-covered raisins, and brown sugar in one ziptop bag for kid-friendly mixing. Soft, chewy drop cookies with no creaming required.

A light, soufflé-style cheesecake made with sieved cottage cheese, grated Swiss cheese, and whipped egg whites on a shortbread crust. Not your typical cheesecake, and that's the point.

Cherry parfait ice cream pie with layers of vanilla ice cream and cherry pie filling in a cookie crumb crust. A frozen no-bake dessert that assembles in minutes and freezes until firm.

Oslo twists are Norwegian fried cookies with crisp, blistered dough twisted through a center slit. Dusted with powdered sugar, this old-world treat shatters at first bite.

Low fat lemon poppy seed Bundt cake using yogurt and egg substitute for tender crumb without the butter. Bright citrus glaze finishes each slice.

Betty Crocker mint swirl chocolate cake, that's easy to make using box cake mix and turns out very pretty.

Classic vinegar pie with a smooth egg-rich custard filling, Depression-era pantry baking that mimics lemon pie using kitchen vinegar. Six ingredients, sweet-tart, satisfying.

Apple spice custard cake: a doctored boxed cake mix loaded with fresh apples, then crowned with a tangy sweetened condensed milk and sour cream custard topping. Easy potluck dessert in under an hour.

Heirloom walnut icebox cookies with warm spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Make-ahead slice-and-bake cookies that keep frozen for weeks until ready to bake.

Paintbrush sugar cookies decorated before baking with egg yolk paint in bright colors. A fun roll-and-cut cookie with almond extract, great for kids and holiday baking.

Chinese New Year almond cookies with a thumbprint dipped in red food coloring. Crisp, sandy shortening cookies meant to bring good luck to the lunar new year table.