Dessert recipes

Old fashioned gingerbread cake made with a surprising secret: tomato soup replaces the liquid in gingerbread mix for an incredibly moist, spiced cake with raisins and walnuts.

Meringue-Topped Apples (Apfel Mit Meringue) recipe

Preserved blueberries in orange liqueur syrup with fresh lavender flowers, canned in a boiling water bath. Spoon over vanilla ice cream, fold into yogurt, or gift a jar to someone who deserves something truly special.

Pecan pumpkin pie built on a jar of spiced pecan-pumpkin butter, eggs, and heavy cream poured into an all-butter homemade crust. Three ingredients in the filling, a smooth, deeply spiced custard out the other side.

Cocoa dough shaped into long rolls, baked, then sliced on the diagonal into elegant strip cookies loaded with chocolate chips. Drizzle with melted white or dark chocolate for a bakery finish.

Citrus pudding-cake that magically separates into two layers as it bakes: a light sponge cake on top and a silky lemon-orange custard pudding beneath. Baked in a water bath for gentle, even heat.

Pomona apple pie made with shredded tart apples, brown sugar, walnuts, and honey, topped with a buttery walnut crumble. A unique twist on classic apple pie with thicker, jammier filling.

Little plum cakes packed with currants and raisins, lemon zest, and nutmeg in a rich butter batter. A traditional English drop cake baked at high heat for golden, fruit-studded bites.

Four-ingredient peanut butter shortbread with butter, sugar, peanut butter, and flour pressed into a pan and baked low and slow. Sandy, crumbly, and nutty with no mixer or rolling required.

A tender blueberry cake with a honeyed graham cracker crumb that sets it apart from ordinary berry cakes. Baked in a springform pan and topped with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Shrewsbury cakes, a traditional English rolled cookie with ginger, citrus rind, and caraway seeds. Crisp, lightly spiced, and chilled overnight before baking.

Old-fashioned lemon-nut coffee cake with a buttery crumb topping, walnuts, and lemon zest in a buttermilk batter. A quick one-pan breakfast cake best served warm.

Velvet cake is a flourless-style chocolate showpiece pooled over white chocolate and raspberry sauces. Dense, fudgy, and made with just six ingredients in the cake itself, it slices like a torte and tastes like ganache.

Ice cream cone cupcakes: chocolate cake batter baked right inside flat-bottom ice cream cones, then swirled with sweet almond buttercream and showered in sprinkles. The kid party showstopper.

Old-fashioned sandwich cookies with a choice of two homemade fillings: raisin with lemon, or chopped date with orange zest and nutmeg. Three dozen per batch.

No-bake caramel oatmeal cookies made on the stovetop with butterscotch pudding mix, evaporated milk, butter, and quick oats. Drop, cool, eat. No oven required.