Baked goods recipes

Pumpkin cheesecake with canned pineapple and warm pie spice, baked in a water-bath oven for a silky, crack-free finish. A crustless fall dessert with tropical flair.

Authentic Tuscan almond biscotti twice-baked until crisp and golden. A traditional Italian cookie with toasted almonds, almond extract, and an egg wash finish.

Mango mousse cake with airy sponge base, raspberry jam ribbon, fresh mango cream mousse, and a crown of toasted almond slices and whipped cream rosettes. A patisserie-worthy showstopper.

Spiced pineapple zucchini bread with crushed pineapple, currants, and chopped nuts. Two moist, fragrant loaves for the price of one big mixing bowl. Cinnamon-and-nutmeg classic with a tropical twist.

Buttermilk chocolate quick bread studded with pecans and maraschino cherries, baked in mini loaf pans and topped with a creamy cherry glaze. A rich, fudgy bread that's more dessert than breakfast.

Chocolate, cream cheese, coconut, sour cream and brandy make this delicious cheesecake.

Almond fortune cookies are crisp homemade Chinese-American cookies with almond extract, hand-folded around paper fortunes while still warm. Bake one sheet at a time for fresh, customized messages.

Simple butter cookies that earned honorable mention: just butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla rolled in sugar and stamped flat, no chilling or cutting required for crisp golden edges.

Almond Brown Sugar Biscotti: classic twice-baked Italian cookies with anise, brown sugar warmth, and chopped almonds. Crisp, dunkable, makes 3 dozen and stores for a month.

Chocolate apricot upside-down cake with a caramelized brown sugar base, tender apricot halves, and pecans beneath a cocoa-rich batter. Served with cinnamon whipped cream.

Fresh fruit pie with blueberries, strawberries, or peaches set in cornstarch-thickened glaze: whipped cream lining the crust, fruit filling on top, chilled until firm and sliceable.

Famous Brown Derby red velvet cake with buttermilk-cocoa cake layers, vinegar reaction, and the original cooked-flour ermine frosting. Hollywood diner classic from the 1940s Wilshire icon.

Mix-in-the-pan chocolate fudge cake with no eggs, no milk, no butter. Poke three holes, pour, stir, and bake. The original depression-era wacky cake that still delivers.

Emma Lynn's pound cake with heavy cream, six eggs, and cake flour baked in a tube pan. No leavening needed. A classic Southern-style pound cake with a tight, buttery crumb.

Nana Keele's carrot cake with crushed pineapple, cinnamon, and nuts, topped with a hot buttermilk syrup that soaks right into the warm cake. A family heirloom recipe.

Puccia, traditional Italian olive-studded bread rolls from Puglia made with biga starter and whole wheat flour. Crusty, airy rolls with a long rise for deep flavor.