Dessert/4 recipes

Solothurner Nusstorte, a Swiss hazelnut torte with piped meringue-nut discs, a buttery sponge layer, and hazelnut buttercream. An elegant three-component European pastry.

Deep-dish rhubarb strawberry pie with a flaky shortening crust, fresh fruit filling spiced with cinnamon and cloves, and a sugared lattice top. The classic spring-into-summer pie baked in a square dish.

Classic New York-style cheesecake with cream cheese, sour cream, and lemon juice on a graham cracker crust. Baked low and slow with a one-hour oven cool to prevent cracking.

Holiday chocolate butter cookies with cocoa, almond extract, and just 6 ingredients. Perfect for cookie presses, rolling into balls, or decorating with melted chocolate and sprinkles.

Banana Cake Aloha Oe is a vintage Hawaiian-style layer cake with a soft, banana-rich crumb finished with real banana frosting. Tender cake flour layers, mashed banana in every bite.

Christmas hazelnut balls rolled in powdered sugar, a buttery shortbread-style cookie with ground hazelnuts and vanilla. No eggs needed, melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Chocolate raspberry buttercream bars with a fudgy brownie base, raspberry jam layer, silky French buttercream, and a chocolate drizzle top. A bakery-style dessert worth the effort.

Tender cream cheese cookies studded with coconut and apricot preserves for jewel-like drops that bake up golden and soft.

Moist spice cake made with apricot baby food and puréed canned apricots, topped with boiled brown sugar icing.

Microwave coconut-graham pie crust with toasted sweetened coconut, crushed graham crackers, butter, and sugar. A no-bake crust ready in 20 minutes without heating up the oven.

Lady Baltimore cake is a tender white layer cake filled with boiled frosting studded with walnuts, currants and figs. The famous Southern Charleston confection from 1906.

Authentic Chinese almond cookies made with lard for that traditional sandy crumb. Each cookie gets a whole blanched almond pressed in the center and a glossy egg yolk wash before baking. Includes sesame variation.

A low-sugar blueberry spread set with gelatin instead of pectin, brightened with ginger and lemon zest. No canning required. Keeps a month in the fridge or a year in the freezer.

Savannah ice cream cake stacks coconut cake layers with strawberry, chocolate, and orange ice creams, finished with whipped cream and chocolate glaze. A Southern showpiece dessert for special occasions.

Authentic Italian cinnamon walnut biscotti: twice-baked cookies with toasted walnuts, orange zest, and a cinnamon-sugar crust. Crisp enough to dip into coffee, sturdy enough to ship.

Deep dish blueberry pie with a buttery egg yolk crust, rum-spiked filling, and eight cups of berries baked until bubbling. A top-crust-only pie loaded with fruit and lightly spiced with cinnamon.