Dessert recipes

Layered apple cake with cinnamon-sugar apple slices tucked between three tiers of orange juice-brightened batter. A dramatic tube pan cake that reveals a stripe of fruit in every slice.

Old-fashioned Southern cream cookies made with sour cream, walnuts, and pressed flat with a cinnamon-sugar glass. Soft, cakey drop cookies that yield six dozen from one batch.

Vinson's pecan pie is a classic Southern double-batch recipe with whole pecans, Karo corn syrup heated to blend smooth, eggs, and vanilla. Makes 2 pies for holiday tables.

Carolina Dream frosting with bourbon-spiked egg yolk custard, candied cherries, pecans, raisins, and coconut. The Southern fruitcake topping that's almost a layer in itself.

Praline pumpkin pie with a candied brown sugar pecan layer baked into the bottom of a flaky homemade crust, plus a bourbon-spiked spiced pumpkin custard. Holiday pie at its richest.

Three-layer praline creme pumpkin pie with a spiced pumpkin custard, brown sugar pecan streusel topping, and an orange-scented cream cheese whipped topping. A holiday showstopper.

Bourbon pecan pie with cane syrup, dark brown sugar, and a pre-cooked filling for a deeper, less cloying caramel base. Toasted pecans bake into a glossy, crackly top.

Honey pecan pie sweetened with honey and brown sugar instead of corn syrup, for a softer, more floral filling. A simple six-ingredient classic with a glossy candied top.

Chocolate chip pecan pie that mounts chips and pecans into the bottom of an all-butter homemade crust before pouring the gooey custard over top. The chocolate melts into pockets you hit with every fork.

Mincemeat sundae pie blends fruit mincemeat into vanilla ice cream, packs it into a vanilla wafer-pecan crust, and finishes each slice with warm homemade caramel sauce. A festive frozen twist on a Christmas classic.

Persimmon cookies loaded with 2 cups of fresh persimmon pulp, raisins, chopped nuts, and warm spices. A soft, cake-like drop cookie that puts fall's most underused fruit to work.

No-bake apricot energy balls with pecans, coconut, barley, honey, and lemon juice rolled in chopped nuts. A naturally sweetened, wholesome snack that comes together in one blender.

Spiced grapefruit upside-down cake with brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and cloves baked on a caramelized grapefruit base. Served with grapefruit-zest whipped cream.

Orange liqueur cake with chopped dates, pecans, and buttermilk batter, soaked in a Grand Marnier orange syrup. The fruitcake alternative for people who claim to hate fruitcake.

Rich, fudgy chocolate almond cake with a silky dual-chocolate glaze and fresh raspberries. A flourless-style showstopper that melts on the tongue with every dense, buttery bite.

Fudgy Greenwich Village brownies with melted unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar, corn syrup, and loaded with pecans. Rich, dense, and chewy with a crackly pecan-studded top.