Dessert/5 recipes

French chocolate cake from a 1953 recipe contest, made with cocoa powder, sour cream, and folded egg whites for a tender, tall crumb. Finished with a soft-ball brown sugar chocolate frosting that sets glossy and rich.

Sunshine orange cream cake layered with tangy sour cream and fresh orange slices. A from-scratch sheet cake split into two layers with a bright, creamy citrus filling.

Soft molasses cookies use sour cream and a generous pour of molasses for the pillow-soft texture grandmas swore by. Spiced with ginger and nutmeg, rolled and cut from a chilled dough.

Sicilian cassata cake with a delicate sponge layer, Marsala wine soak, and rich chocolate custard filling. A traditional Italian celebration dessert built in stages.

Port-soaked dried figs stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped with a whole almond. An elegant make-ahead appetizer or dessert bite that needs overnight chilling.

Indulgent cheesecake stuffed with chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough and extra chocolate chips. Chocolate cookie crust and whipped cream topping make this a cookie lover's dream dessert.

Four-layer coconut sour cream cake with a fluffy whipped topping filling and shredded coconut all around. Make-ahead Southern dessert that gets better as it sits.

Double ginger cake with both fresh grated ginger and candied ginger baked into a rich, buttery sour cream batter in a tube pan. Tall, tender, and intensely ginger-forward.

Soft date drop cookies made with sour cream, brown sugar, and chopped dates, topped with a whole walnut. A chewy old-fashioned cookie with caramel-like sweetness.

Dark chocolate cheesecake with a velvety, dense crumb and a vanilla cookie crust. Sour cream keeps it tangy and silky, while a low, slow bake gives you a crackless top every time.

Flaky pastry bars filled with thin-sliced MacIntosh apples, raisins, and sugar, topped with lattice strips. Sour cream dough creates tender layers. Dust with powdered sugar while warm for elegant finish.

Sunny cocoa drop cookies are light chocolate-orange cookies made with corn oil spread and sour cream, then finished with a glossy cocoa drizzle. Lower-fat drop cookie, four dozen per batch.

A lemon-kissed bundt cake made with white cake mix, cream cheese, sour cream, and frozen lemonade, topped with a tangy sour cream glaze. Semi-homemade and incredibly moist.

This dark sauce takes advantage of chocolate's affinity for red wine. Dutch process cocoa lends the sauce richer chocolate flavor than regular unsweetened cocoa.

Mini cheesecakes with graham cracker crusts, sweetened condensed milk filling, and a glossy raspberry pie filling topping. Two-bite individual cheesecakes baked in a muffin pan, ready in 20 minutes.

Kolache cookies with a cream cheese pastry dough folded around fruit jam and dusted with powdered sugar. A three-ingredient Czech-style pastry that melts in your mouth.