Dessert/7 recipes

Simple Danish apple cake with diced apples, pecans, and cinnamon baked in one bowl, one pan. Barely sweet, warmly spiced, and calling for a dollop of whipped cream on top.

A show-stopping 4-layer banana cake with stiff meringue folded into the batter, filled with vanilla custard, and frosted with a silky cooked flour-butter frosting laced with almond extract. This is banana cake at its most dramatic.

Milk chocolate biscotti packed with toasted whole almonds and cocoa-darkened dough. Crisp, twice-baked Italian cookies ready for dunking in coffee or espresso.

Rolled ginger cookies with whole wheat flour, molasses, and a warming mix of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Chill the dough overnight for clean cut-out shapes that bake up crisp with spicy, old-fashioned holiday flavor.

No-bake chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate-cocoa biscuit crust, a cloud-light filling of bittersweet chocolate, whipped cream, and folded egg whites, crowned with toasted pecans.

Cream cheese rhubarb pie: tangy cooked rhubarb filling layered with a baked cream cheese custard in a flaky pie crust. Topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds.

Pumpkin cheesecake with graham cracker crust, spiced pumpkin custard filling, and a tangy sour cream topping. Holiday dessert with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, garnished with pecan halves on each slice.

Cow pies are no-bake chocolate candy drops made with melted milk chocolate chips, slivered almonds, and raisins. A fun, kid-friendly treat ready in 20 minutes.

Ginger-almond florentines: thin, lacy caramel cookies with crystallized ginger, toasted almonds, and citrus zest, finished with a smooth chocolate coating on the flat side.

Pineapple zucchini cake loaded with crushed pineapple, grated zucchini, pecans, and raisins. A moist, oil-based sheet cake with tropical-garden flavor that uses up summer zucchini.

Soft pumpkin cookies with white chocolate chips, pecans, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Baked low and slow for a cakey, tender fall cookie.

Crispy baked polenta triangles topped with roasted red peppers, fresh basil, and Parmesan. A light, low-fat Italian appetizer with golden crunch and creamy center.

Almond paste macaroons studded with coconut and walnuts, piped into rosettes and crowned with candied cherries. Chewy, fragrant Italian-style cookies for the holiday tin.

Southern jam cake with blackberry jam, buttermilk, raisins, and pecans baked low and slow in three spiced layers. Topped with a boiled cream frosting that drips down the sides just like it should.

Fruit puffed cookies made with angel food cake mix, dried fruit, and pecans. Just 4 ingredients for light, airy cookies that puff up golden in under 10 minutes.

Red plum spice cake made with plum baby food for moisture, cinnamon, cloves, and vegetable oil baked in a Bundt pan. A dense, spiced oil cake with a clever shortcut ingredient that keeps it moist for days.