Dessert recipes

Cooked coconut pecan icing made with evaporated milk, sugar, and margarine. A thick, buttery frosting with toasted coconut and pecans, poured over hot cake.

Frozen grasshopper ice cream pie with a chocolate wafer crust, vanilla ice cream layer, and a fluffy mint-and-chocolate liqueur topping. Boozy retro showstopper that's made days ahead.

In a Cretan zacharoplasteion (sweet shop), we were so intrigued by these coconut pastries (among the newer breed) that I tried them at home. You can expect the potato pastry to be a bit difficult to manipulate, and you can also anticipate compliments on the results. Attractive and tasty, not excessively sweet.

Apricot drop cookies fold chopped dried apricots into a quick brown-sugar batter brightened with orange juice and zest. Soft, chewy drops with bursts of fruit in every bite.

Four-layer coconut cake with coconut cream pudding filling, chopped macadamia nuts, whipped cream frosting, and shredded coconut pressed all over. A showstopper from a cake mix.

Lemon butter biscotti: buttery lemon-zest dough rounds layered with microwave vanilla pastry cream in cupcake pans, then baked into individual lemon cream pastries.

Macadamia mandelbrot with orange juice, orange zest, and almond extract, twice-baked into crisp, crunchy cookies. A tropical twist on the classic Jewish biscotti.

Melomacarona, traditional Greek honey cookies made with oil instead of butter, dipped in warm honey syrup and topped with chopped walnuts. Egg-free and butter-free.

Buttery shortbread sticks with ground almonds baked into the dough and a crunchy almond-sugar topping. These elegant little cookies snap with a satisfying crumble and make 3 dozen in under an hour.

Blueberry batter cake bakes its own sauce as boiling water poured over a sugar-cornstarch topping creates a syrupy blueberry layer beneath the risen cake. A self-saucing pudding cake.

Apple or pear upside-down cake baked in a cast iron pan with a buttery base and golden caramelized fruit. A simple six-ingredient cake with crisp sugary edges and tender fruit on top.

Eggnog snickerdoodles rolled in nutmeg sugar, flavored with brandy and rum extracts. A holiday twist on the classic crinkled cookie with warm eggnog spice in every bite.

Honey lemon soaked cake baked in a tube pan, pierced while warm, and drenched with a hot honey-lemon syrup. Finished with a dusting of powdered sugar.

This pie tastes like Pecan pie and can be served with whipped cream, non-dairy whipped topping or a scoop of ice cream.

Granny cake is a no-fuss pineapple sheet cake with a brown sugar nut topping baked on, then soaked with a hot vanilla milk glaze. A vintage dump-and-stir recipe with no butter in the batter.

Green pepper jelly made with fresh bell peppers, vinegar, cayenne, and Certo pectin. A sweet-hot condiment that pairs with cream cheese and crackers, grilled meats, or barbecue.