Dessert recipes

Decadent chocolate cake spiked with jalapeños and Kahlua creates a molten-centered Mexican dessert with subtle heat and deep mocha flavor for adventurous bakers.

Strawberry cheesecake pie layers a tangy lemon-cream cheese filling in a flaky crust, piled with fresh strawberries and topped with a glossy cooked strawberry glaze. Part cheesecake, part strawberry pie, all chilled.

Yogurt chocolate chip cookies with honey and brown sugar for a soft, chewy texture. Plain yogurt replaces some fat for tender cookies with a subtle tang.

Make Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk at home: rich chocolate ice cream loaded with white and dark chocolate chunks, pecans, walnuts, and chocolate-covered almonds.

Friendship cake using yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, brandied starter fruit, raisins, and pecans baked in a Bundt pan. The shortcut version of the gifted-starter holiday cake.

No-bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies with coconut. Boil the sugar mixture for one minute, stir everything together, and drop on wax paper to set.

Buttermilk walnut bundt cake baked over a brown sugar and Karo syrup topping with whole walnuts. A sticky-bottomed cake with a tender, airy crumb from whipped egg whites.

Oatmeal peanut butter drop cookies with plumped raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla. A hearty, old-fashioned cookie packed with oats and peanut butter flavor. Makes 3 dozen.

Mexican chocolate chiffon pie with Kahlua coffee liqueur, whipped cream, and toasted almonds in a baked pie shell. A silky, no-bake gelatin-set filling chilled overnight.

Lighter chocolate caramel cheesecake built on a crispy rice cereal crust with nonfat cream cheese, fat-free sour cream, and egg whites. A gooey caramel layer and chocolate-walnut crumble keep things indulgent without the guilt.

Crustless sweet potato pie with almond extract for a Southern-style dessert that bakes in 25 minutes. Mashed sweet potatoes, butter, and sugar create a custardy slice without rolling a single piece of dough.

Yeast based Czechoslovakian pastry filled with a poppy seed or cream cheese filling.

Prune cake is an old-fashioned Southern holiday spice cake with chopped prunes, pecans, buttermilk, and warm spices, soaked with a buttermilk-butter sauce. Three-day rest deepens flavor.

Light fruitcake is the pale, buttery holiday classic: candied pineapple, cherries and citron with golden raisins, pecans and walnuts, brightened with lemon and vanilla, then brandy-soaked and aged for weeks.

A classic French pear and frangipane tart: vanilla-poached pears arranged over almond pastry cream spiked with kirsch and crushed macaroons, finished with apricot glaze and pistachios.

Mary Wilhelm of Sparta sent her signature cookie, which she said she has prepared for the Food Network, Warrens Cranfest and Taste of Home magazine. Two classic flavor pairings - brown sugar and cashews, and orange and cranberry - come together.