Dessert/4 recipes

A show-stopping sour cherry pie with a hint of almond extract, topped with overlapping heart-shaped pastry cut-outs instead of a traditional crust. Gorgeous for Valentine's Day or any day you want to impress.

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.

Pfeffernusse-style German pepper cookies with white pepper, cinnamon, mixed spice, candied peel, and lemon zest. Small, puffy spice balls dusted in powdered sugar.

Strawberry cream pie layered with toasted almonds, a from-scratch vanilla cream filling, fresh halved strawberries, and a glossy strawberry glaze. Diner-counter classic done properly.

Strawberry granita made from just three ingredients, no ice cream machine needed. Fresh strawberry puree and simple syrup frozen and scraped into glittering, refreshing ice crystals. Pure summer in a glass.

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.

Fig garden party cakes layer sponge cake or lady fingers with a homemade dried-fig filling cooked down with peanut butter, butter, and lemon juice. A vintage tea-table dessert with surprising depth.

A spice cake mix upgraded with rolled oats, low-fat yogurt, and chopped apples, finished with a crunchy brown sugar and oat crumble topping. Bakes in one pan, ready in an hour.

Rosettes are delicate Scandinavian fried cookies shaped on a decorative iron, crisp like a wafer and dusted with powdered sugar. A Christmas tradition in Nordic and Midwestern kitchens.

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

Moist walnut spice cake with brown sugar, nutmeg, and allspice topped with a bake-on meringue. Old-fashioned comfort baking with a crispy, golden crown.

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.

Chocolate angel food cake hollowed out and filled with orange sherbet. A frozen dessert that pairs airy cocoa sponge with tangy citrus ice. Fat-free cake, too.

Gingerbread dough made the old-fashioned way with boiled molasses, shortening, allspice, and cinnamon. Perfect for rolled cookies, houses, or cut-out shapes.

Cinnamon rugelach made with a tender cream cheese pastry dough, rolled crescent-style around a cinnamon filling and dusted with cinnamon sugar. Flaky, buttery little cookies for the holidays and cookie trays.

Flaky, buttery pastry triangles filled with jam and kissed with orange zest. A classic Austrian cookie that uses hard-cooked egg yolks for an impossibly tender dough.