Dessert/4 recipes

Two-layer fudge cake built on a cooked cocoa-milk paste with brown sugar for depth. Old-fashioned chocolate layer cake from-scratch and a perfect blank canvas for any frosting.

Alphabet cookies shaped by hand from a simple butter cookie dough rolled into ropes. A fun baking project for kids that doubles as a tasty learning activity.

Rainbow ice cream cake layers jello-coated angel food cake pieces with strawberry, lime and orange-pineapple flavors, fruit and vanilla ice cream. A showstopping no-bake frozen dessert.

Elegant dark chocolate torte layered with rich chocolate mousse on a thin cocoa sponge, served with homemade orange caramel confit sauce. A restaurant-level dessert you can make at home.

Citrus Molasses Candied Bananas with Coconut recipe

Crazy cake, also known as wacky cake, is an egg-free and dairy-free chocolate sheet cake made with vinegar and oil. Depression-era one-pan recipe that bakes in 35 minutes.

Filled lemon cookies sandwich thin, buttery shortbread rounds with a bright lemon filling. Slice-and-bake icebox dough with a tea party finish dusted in powdered sugar.

Swedish rosettes are crisp, lacy fried cookies shaped by a decorative iron dipped in batter and flash-fried until golden. A Scandinavian holiday tradition dusted in powdered sugar.

Old-fashioned brown sugar crumb cake uses a single mixture for both the cake and the crumb topping. A coffee-cake classic with cinnamon spice and a streusel-like crown, dusted with powdered sugar.

Key lime pie loaded with lime zest, juice and a hit of citric acid for an extra-tart punch, set in a ginger crumb crust and crowned with whipped cream. A no-bake, intensely limey twist on the classic.

Orange creamsicle cake with four tender layers stacked between a tangy sour cream and whipped topping frosting. Nostalgic push-pop flavor in every bite, using a boxed mix shortcut nobody will guess.

Chocolate mint rice pudding layered in sherbet glasses, lightened with whipped cream and egg whites, studded with cooked rice and swirls of mint jelly.

Vintage spice cake layered with sweet stewed figs and crowned with vanilla frosting and toasted coconut. This retro two-layer beauty transforms humble ingredients into pure nostalgia.

French cherry clafouti with brandy-macerated cherries baked in a puffy, golden custard scented with allspice and lemon zest. Rustic elegance that looks far harder than it is.

Raspberry poppy seed cookies are tender butter thumbprints studded with crunchy poppy seeds and filled with jewel-bright raspberry preserves. A bakery-style classic with two textures in every bite.

Fried diamond twist cookies with egg yolk dough, deep-fried crisp and dusted with powdered sugar. Scandinavian rosettes-meets-krumkake pastry also known as chrusciki or rosettes in other traditions.