Dessert/8 recipes

Lemon poinsettia cookies decorate buttery lemon shortbread with cream cheese spread, sliced strawberries, and mint leaves arranged like holiday flowers.

Orange-berry bundt cake, a rich, moist citrus pound cake brightened with orange juice and lemon, made tender with heavy cream and extra egg yolks, then dusted with sugar and crowned with fresh raspberries.

No-churn mango cantaloupe sorbet sweetened with maple syrup and brightened with lime juice. A low-fat, dairy-free frozen dessert made entirely in a blender and freezer.

Cantaloupe balls and blueberries in a fresh mint sugar syrup served as a fruit salad or chilled dessert with whipped cream. A light, refreshing summer fruit dish.

Mango cream pie pulls together mango puree, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and optional rum into a gelatin-set filling poured over a baked crust. Whipped cream on top, mint to finish. A tropical no-cook treat.

Classic chocolate sheet cake with cinnamon and vinegar in the batter, topped with warm cocoa icing poured over the hot cake so it soaks into every prick-marked inch.

Honey nugget cookies are chewy, oat-packed drop cookies sweetened with honey and brown sugar, spiced with cinnamon. A vintage church-cookbook recipe that bakes up tender on the inside, lightly crisp at the edges.

Potato Cake is a classic chocolate sheet cake with mashed potatoes folded into the batter - creating a tender, moist crumb without any potato flavor. Walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Moist wholemeal zucchini cake topped with sliced apple, crunchy walnuts, and warm allspice. Baked in a ring tin, this one's brilliant warm or cold with a cuppa.

Apple spice custard cake: a doctored boxed cake mix loaded with fresh apples, then crowned with a tangy sweetened condensed milk and sour cream custard topping. Easy potluck dessert in under an hour.

Molasses elephant cookies are soft, spice-laced drop cookies with cinnamon, ginger, and a splash of cider vinegar, decorated with raisin or date faces. A vintage kids' cookie made for tiny artists.

Apple-nut cinnamon streusel cake is a sour cream coffee cake folded with chopped apples and toasted sunflower seeds, finished with a cinnamon brown sugar streusel topping. Brunch and breakfast worthy.

Berkshire apple pie with a dump-and-bake cake batter topping over cinnamon apples. No rolling pin needed for this rustic New England-style dessert.

Macadamia fudge torte with devil's food cake mix, pureed pears, chocolate chip filling, and warm butterscotch sauce. A layered springform pan dessert.

Blueberry crunch cake bakes a buttermilk cornmeal cake under a crown of fresh blueberries with a cinnamon-sugar crackle on top. Lighter than coffee cake, sweeter than cornbread. The Southern morning cake that disappears fast.

Lower-sugar oatmeal raisin drop cookies with rolled oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, and just a quarter cup of margarine. A lighter take on the classic cookie that still delivers chewy oat texture and warm spice.