Dessert/7 recipes

Soft, cakey persimmon cookies made with ripe persimmon pulp, warm cinnamon, plump raisins and crunchy nuts. An old-fashioned drop cookie and a great way to use up overripe persimmons in autumn.

Mocha spice roll cake is a warmly spiced sponge rolled around billowy coffee-cocoa whipped cream, then frosted and fork-scored to look like a bark log. A holiday-ready bûche de Noël with cinnamon, clove, and allspice woven through.

Cinnamon sugar butter cookies rolled in spiced sugar and baked low for a soft, chewy center. Brown sugar dough gives these drop cookies deep caramel notes with a crackly cinnamon coating.

Pepparkakor, the thin and snappy Swedish spice cookies layered with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg over deep molasses. Sliced from chilled logs and baked crisp. A classic Scandinavian Christmas treat.

Pumpkin pound cake with warm spices, finished with orange glaze and homemade candied orange peel. Makes two 9x5 loaves, perfect for fall gifting or freezing.

Pfeffernüsse-style German spice cookies with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, and allspice, finished with a drop of brandy before baking. A traditional holiday cookie that keeps for weeks in a tin.

Traditional Irish apple cake with a buttery shortbread-style crust layered around spiced applesauce. A rustic Sunday dessert served warm with whipped cream, ice cream, or lemon sauce.

Brown paper sack apple pie, the old-fashioned trick of baking a Granny Smith pie with buttery crumb topping inside a grocery bag. The enclosed heat steams the apples tender and keeps the crust from burning.

Canned apple pie filling made with tart sliced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a cornstarch sugar syrup. Water bath canning recipe yields 6 quarts, each jar fills a two-crust pie.

Belgian spice crisps are paper-thin, shatteringly crisp cookies scented with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, lemon, and rum. A European Christmas classic rolled ultra-thin for maximum crunch.

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.

Mulled summer fruits in Chenin Blanc, a make-ahead dessert of peaches, berries, and apricots soaked in spiced white wine syrup. Served chilled with sorbet or whipped cream.

Orange carrot cake baked in a tube pan with grated carrots, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest, finished with a tangy orange glaze. A bright twist on classic carrot cake.

Cinnamon-spiced almond meringue cookies made with just 5 ingredients. Light, crisp, and naturally gluten-free with ground almonds folded into stiff egg whites.

Swedish ginger cookies (pepparkakor) made with dark corn syrup, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. A spiced roll-and-cut dough that bakes thin and snappy for the holidays.

French meringue strips with a buttery shortbread base topped with vanilla meringue, cinnamon sugar, and chopped almonds. Elegant bar cookies that yield 8 dozen.