Dessert recipes

Homemade hot fudge sauce with unsweetened and semi-sweet chocolate, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla. A thick, glossy ice cream topping ready in 20 minutes.

To make good pralines, a candy or a digital kitchen thermometer is essential.

Trinidadian sugar cakes are chewy Caribbean coconut candies cooked in sugar syrup and tinted pink. A traditional street-fair sweet from Trinidad and Tobago.

Tender lemon bundt cake with poppy seed crunch, drenched in a warm citrus glaze that turns each slice into a melt-in-your-mouth experience.

This raw vegan key lime mousse SO easy and epitomizes the "blend and chow in under 5 minutes" philosophy that I am so fond of. Just throw all the ingredients in your blender and puree until smooth. Chill and Devour. How easy is that?

No-bake cocoa bourbon balls made with crushed vanilla wafers, pecans, powdered sugar, and a generous pour of bourbon. Roll in fruit sugar, chopped pecans, or cocoa powder. Ready in 15 minutes.

Boston cookies are an old-fashioned drop cookie with cinnamon, raisins and chopped walnuts in a simple butter-sugar base. Soft in the middle, lightly chewy at the edges, ready in 30 minutes.

Birds nests are thumbprint cookies rolled in egg white and crushed walnuts, then filled with a jewel of fruit jam. A classic holiday tea cookie that bakes in 10 minutes.

Light chocolate sponge cake rolls around softened ice cream, then freezes into impressive slices. Homemade chocolate sauce drizzles over each serving.

Strawberry oat crumble pie with fresh strawberries layered between a brown sugar oat crust and crumble topping. Serve warm or chilled for a syrupy filling.

Double-crust caramel brown sugar pie with a cooked custard filling made from brown sugar, heavy cream, butter, and eggs. A rich, old-fashioned sugar pie served with fresh berries or peaches.

Fat-free cocoa squares with applesauce instead of butter or oil. A hot cocoa-brown sugar sauce poured over the batter before baking creates a gooey, self-saucing chocolate dessert.

Citrus chiffon cake made with fresh orange juice, orange and lemon zest, and whipped egg whites for a cloud-light crumb. A 10-inch tube pan classic dusted with powdered sugar.

Chocolate pound cake baked in a tube pan with melted unsweetened chocolate and cream of tartar for a tender, tight crumb. A one-bowl, old-fashioned pound cake dressed up in cocoa.

Old-fashioned Southern tea cakes made with buttermilk, vanilla, and self-rising flour. Soft, lightly sweet rolled cookies that taste like Grandma's kitchen. A big-batch heritage recipe.

So good impossible pumpkin pecan pie skips the crust: Bisquick in the batter makes its own as it bakes. A spiced pumpkin custard studded with pecans, topped with spiced whipped cream. Easy, no-roll holiday pie.