Dessert/7 recipes

Flourless chocolate espresso cake baked in a water bath with a pound of butter, two types of chocolate, and a fresh raspberry puree sauce. Dense, fudgy, and gluten-free.

An intensely dark chocolate sheet cake made with strong black coffee and buttermilk, topped with a rich "Hundred Dollar Frosting" of melted chocolate, butter, walnuts, and a surprising touch of lemon juice.

Orange balls are a no-bake holiday classic: crushed vanilla wafers mixed with butter, powdered sugar, frozen orange juice concentrate, and pecans, rolled in coconut for a bright citrus bite.

Fattigmann is a Norwegian fried pastry cookie flavored with cardamom or cinnamon, twisted into slit diamonds and crisped in lard. A traditional Scandinavian Christmas treat with powdered sugar.

Light-as-air meringue cookies studded with mini chocolate chips. Just five ingredients, virtually fat-free, and they melt on your tongue. Makes 36 cookies.

Cream cheese filling spiked with Irish cream liqueur bakes in a vanilla wafer crust, then gets topped with grated white chocolate for boozy, elegant cheesecake.

Berkshire fruit cake packed with raisins, currants, and citron in a spiced molasses batter with cinnamon, cloves, and mace. Baked low and slow for 4.5 hours.

Lo-fat holiday cheesecake made with nonfat cream cheese, lemon yogurt, and egg substitute on a graham crust, topped with cherry pie filling. Lighter classic for the dessert table.

Crisp Italian pizzelle cookies with cocoa and cinnamon pressed into lacy, wafer-thin rounds. A chocolate twist on the classic holiday wafer cookie.

Palm Beach pineapple squares: a chocolate walnut cake base topped with a lemon-scented pineapple layer, baked together into one tropical dessert bar.

Flourless chocolate goo cake made with three-quarters of a pound of butter, semi-sweet chocolate, milk, and seven egg yolks. An intensely fudgy, barely-baked chocolate dessert served cold with whipped cream.

Classic almond biscotti are twice-baked Italian cookies made with whole-wheat and white flour, turbinado sugar, eggs, vanilla, and toasted almonds. Crisp, dunkable, and made for coffee.

Peach and sour cream tart with fresh-poached peaches arranged in a sweet pastry shell, filled with a sour cream custard, and topped with sliced almonds. A classic French-style summer fruit tart.

Enjoy this delicious coffee cake with your favorite coffee or tea in a beautiful afternoon.

Creamy banana cheesecake on a chocolate wafer crust, studded with chopped walnuts and drizzled with melted milk chocolate. A banana split in cheesecake form. Serves 10.

British-style honey lemon cheesecake with curd cheese, sultanas, and a lattice pastry top baked in a shortcrust flan case. A light, European cheesecake with no refined sugar.