Dessert/9 recipes

Authentic biscotti di Prato from Tuscany. Twice-baked Italian almond cookies with toasted almonds, a pinch of saffron, and the traditional pasta-board well method. Crisp, dunkable, and built to keep.

Terry's turtle cake layers chocolate cake with melted caramel, chocolate chips, and pecans, then tops with more batter for a gooey caramel center. A church potluck classic on a doctored cake mix base.

A flourless chocolate torte for Passover made with cocoa, eggs, toasted almonds, and butter. Baked thin in a jelly-roll pan and cut into layers, this elegant Pesach dessert rises on whipped egg whites alone.

Florida Bay Snickers cheesecake: a rich cream cheese base studded with Snickers chunks, topped with caramel glaze, chocolate ganache, and chopped peanuts. Over-the-top indulgence.

Moist, tasty and light. A perfectly delicious cake to finish up the meal without feeling guilty.

Cranberry cheesecake swirled with a homemade cranberry-orange filling and finished with an orange sour cream topping over a vanilla wafer crust. A tart-and-creamy holiday cheesecake worth the centerpiece spot.

Low-fat cherry-almond biscotti with dried cherries, chopped almonds, and almond extract. No butter or oil needed in this crispy, twice-baked Italian cookie for dipping.

Thin, lacy pecan cookies spread flat like pancakes and baked in residual oven heat. Crispy, buttery, and caramelized with brown sugar and whipped egg whites.

Chewy oatmeal raisin cookies with warm cinnamon and nutmeg spice. Classic rounds that require overnight chilling for the best texture and flavor development.

Mandel rolls (mandelbrot) made with cake meal, matzo meal, potato starch, and chopped nuts. Twice-baked Jewish biscotti that are crisp, cinnamon-spiced, and Passover-friendly.

Rainbow meringue torte: four crisp meringue discs layered with chocolate, mint chip, and strawberry ice cream, topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds. A make-ahead frozen showpiece dessert.

Rich devil's food layer cake: a deeply dark, old-fashioned two-layer chocolate cake made with melted unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar, and buttermilk-style milk. The birthday cake blueprint.

Walnuts give the crust tangy and nutty flavor, this recipe is perfect for a pumpkin pie.

Maple-walnut pound cake baked in a tube pan with a cinnamon-walnut streusel layer through the middle and on top. Dense, buttery, and loaded with maple and brown sugar flavor.

Classic New York-style cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, creamy cream cheese filling, and tangy sour cream topping. Baked low and slow for a dense, crack-free finish.

Lord Baltimore cake with three yellow cake layers, fluffy egg white frosting, and a filling of crumbled macaroons, pecans, and maraschino cherries. A Southern showstopper made easy with a cake mix shortcut.