Dessert recipes

English cheese pie with sieved cottage cheese, cream sherry, rosewater, and currants in a from-scratch butter pastry crust. A fragrant Tudor-era custard dessert.

Angel food sheet cake topped with fresh peaches, strawberries, blueberries, and oranges, brushed with a citrus-orange glaze. A light, pretty summer dessert using a boxed cake mix shortcut.

Peche Royale dans son Panier Fleuri: poached peaches in fried batter baskets over genoise, topped with Grand Marnier sabayon and pate a choux handles. A showpiece French plated dessert.

Individual rustic fruit tarts with shortcrust pastry, apricot jam glaze, and thinly sliced apples or pears. A French-bistro dessert that bakes in 15 minutes and looks gorgeous.

Chocolate-stuffed peanut butter scones with chopped peanuts and brown sugar, baked into golden filled rounds with a molten chocolate center. A bakery-style breakfast or dessert treat.

Strawberries Elegante pairs ripe sliced strawberries with orange liqueur and a silky brown-sugar cream cheese sauce. A 10-minute no-cook dessert that tastes like more work.

Chocolate chunk cheesecake layers a walnut-chocolate shortbread crust with a brown sugar cream cheese filling studded with chopped chocolate, finished with a chocolate ganache glaze. Bakery-style dessert.

Fruits afire is a flambe dessert with canned pears, apricots, and bing cherries in a reduced cinnamon-apricot syrup, finished tableside with flaming rum. A dramatic, retro showstopper.

Microwave apple crisp with Granny Smith apples under a brown sugar oat topping with cinnamon and nutmeg. A warm, spiced dessert ready in just over 20 minutes, no oven needed.

Oat creme is a dairy-free dessert sauce made from rolled oats simmered in apple juice with tahini, vanilla, and brandy, pureed until smooth. A vegan custard alternative for pouring over baked apples.

Classic Alsatian apple charlotte with milk-soaked bread, cinnamon-spiced apples, chopped almonds, and a splash of kirsch. Baked in a bundt pan until golden, this rustic French dessert is pure comfort.

A silky cooked vanilla sauce to spoon over plain cake, made from sugar, milk, butter, and a touch of flour to thicken. This old-fashioned dessert topping turns a simple slice into something special.

Spicy apple crisp layers cinnamon-scented sliced apples under a buttery oat-and-brown-sugar streusel topping that bakes crunchy and golden. Fall comfort dessert served warm with vanilla ice cream or cold cream.

Light sponge cake baked in a casserole dish, then soaked with a hot rum sugar syrup and topped with toasted almonds or coconut. This boozy, syrup-drenched dessert is even better the next day.

Microwave creme de menthe bundt cake, a boxed mix cake laced with mint liqueur and a chocolate syrup swirl, cooked entirely in the microwave in just ten minutes. A retro shortcut dessert with mint-chocolate magic.

Key lime cheesecake with strawberry butter sauce, made with a graham cracker crust, tangy fresh key lime juice, and separated eggs folded in for a lighter texture. A Florida-style dessert finished with a bright pink berry sauce.