Dessert/5 recipes

A from-scratch chocolate layer cake made with cocoa, buttermilk, cake flour, and both white and brown sugar. Creamed butter method for a velvety, tender crumb. Frost with your favorite icing.

Obsttorte, the German fruit torte built on a buttery pressed shortbread crust, filled with whole fruit set in a glossy fruit glaze, edged in almond meringue, and crowned with vanilla whipped cream. Works with any fruit you love.

Patriotic layered parfaits with red gelatin, creamy vanilla pudding, and fresh blueberries. These make-ahead Fourth of July desserts look stunning in clear glasses.

Fresh berry filling and topping make this delicious shortcake outstanding.

Blueberry cream pie with a vanilla wafer crust, a silky vanilla custard layer and a glossy fresh blueberry topping. The berries stay bright, never baked to mush. A chilled summer favorite.

Great and simple gift-idea! And the result tastes great as well.

Painted sugar cookies decorated before baking with egg yolk paint and food coloring. A fun, creative baking project for kids that skips messy icing entirely.

Orange icebox cookies are sliceable shortbread-style rounds with fresh orange zest, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Make ahead dough rolls and chills until baking.

Penuche topped cake with a brown sugar, butter, and nut streusel baked right on a vanilla sheet cake. Served warm with whipped cream for a caramelized, crunchy finish.

Frosted diamond cookies with caraway seeds, topped with billowy White Mountain frosting and pink sugar. A vintage rolled cookie that's crisp, elegant, and surprisingly savory-sweet.

Classic Italian pizzelle cookies made with butter, eggs, vanilla, and a shot of whiskey for depth. Crisp, thin waffle cookies pressed on a pizzelle iron. Makes 16 dozen.

Classic pound cake made with powdered sugar, margarine, eggs, flour and a hint of lemon. Dense, buttery and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. Baked low and slow in a tube pan.

Traditional Appalachian stack cake with tender cookie-thin layers separated by spiced apple butter. Bake crisp golden rounds, then let them soften overnight as the apple butter melts into each bite.

Lovelight chiffon yellow cake: feather-light two-layer yellow cake with a meringue folded into the batter for extra airiness. Classic 1950s tender-crumb cake.

No-bake indoor s'mores bars made with Golden Grahams cereal, melted milk chocolate, corn syrup, and mini marshmallows. A campfire treat without the campfire.

Buttery pecan snowball cookies rolled in powdered sugar. No eggs, no leavening, just six ingredients for a crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread-style cookie.