Dessert/3 recipes

Rigo Jancsi, the classic Hungarian chocolate cake with two layers of rich sponge filled with rum-spiked chocolate cream and topped with a glossy chocolate glaze. An elegant European pastry.

Buttery nut ball cookies rolled in powdered sugar, also called Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies. Six ingredients, no eggs, and they melt in your mouth.

A classic double-crust cherry pie made from scratch with frozen tart cherries, cornstarch thickener, and a whisper of almond extract. Baked golden with a lattice or vented top.

Italian tiramisu with whipped mascarpone, cottage cheese and egg yolks, layered over coffee-soaked ladyfingers and dusted with cocoa. Includes a strawberry-rhubarb variation. Make-ahead, no-bake dessert.

Tender cream cheese pastry sandwiches a layer of thick dried fruit filling, then bakes into golden bars. These reduced-sugar cookies cut into 2 dozen squares for sharing.

Poppy seed tea cake with sour cream, almond extract, and cinnamon, baked in a tube pan. A buttery, tender cake with nutty seeds and a delicate crumb from cake flour.

Sunshine cake is a tall, lemon-kissed cousin of angel food and sponge cake, leavened entirely by whipped egg whites and yolks with bright lemon zest and juice.

Funnel cake batter is poured through a funnel into hot fat in a swirling spiral, fried until golden, then dusted with confectioners sugar. The state-fair classic, made at home.

Classic Girl Scout-style trefoil shortbread cookies with butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Roll-and-cut sugar cookies for the trefoil cutter, makes 4 dozen.

Buttery shortbread-style nut cookies with almond extract and chopped nuts, shaped by hand into rustic finger rolls. Tender, crumbly, and lightly sweet.

Soft sour cream cookies with a sugar-pressed top, made from simple pantry staples. The sour cream keeps them pillowy and tender for days.

Cream cheese snowflake cookies with lemon zest, topped with powdered sugar icing and edible glitter. Delicate, buttery Christmas cutout cookies that sparkle.

Coconut fluff peaches with a cloud of meringue-like topping made from beaten egg white, coconut syrup, and lemon zest, heaped into peach halves. A light, retro dessert.

Traditional British coconut ice with a white and pink layered look. Just sugar, water, desiccated coconut, and vanilla cooked to soft-ball stage and pressed into squares. A classic Christmas sweet that's dead simple to make.

Apees are a classic Pennsylvania Dutch sugar cookie made with butter, sour cream, and just five ingredients. Tender, lightly sweet rolled cookies with golden edges and a soft center.

Mom's red velvet cake with old-fashioned ermine frosting (the original red velvet topping). Buttermilk, cocoa, and vinegar give the cake its signature tang and tender crumb.