Dessert recipes

Fudgy Southern chocolate cake with melted unsweetened chocolate, pecans, and a two-temperature baking method. Dense, rich, and brownie-like with a cocoa-dusted pan for extra chocolate flavor.

Amaretto cheesecake with chocolate wafer-almond crust and tangy sour cream topping. Rich, creamy filling that chills overnight for best flavor.

Bacardi rum cake made with yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, pecans, and dark rum, then soaked in a buttery rum syrup. A boozy, sticky bundt cake that's a holiday classic.

Lighter applesauce fruitcake with dates, raisins, walnuts, and candied fruit. No alcohol soak, no months of aging. Three loaves of moist holiday cake without the heaviness of traditional fruitcake.

Mother's Christmas cheese cakes: cream cheese pastry tartlets with two fillings, one pecan-brown sugar and one coconut-vanilla. A classic holiday cookie tin stalwart.

Pistachio-almond biscotti drizzled with dark chocolate: crunchy, twice-baked Italian cookies packed with two kinds of nuts. Coffee's best friend and a gift-tin classic.

Classic German chocolate cake: three light layers of sweet chocolate cake with whipped egg whites folded in, stacked with a cooked coconut-pecan frosting made from evaporated milk and egg yolks. The real, from-scratch version.

Triple chocolate mocha cookies layer melted semisweet chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips with a hit of espresso for deep, fudgy chocolate intensity. Optional toasted pecans add crunch.

Raw apple bundt cake stays incredibly moist thanks to three cups of fresh chopped apples, plus flaked coconut, sweet dates, and toasted pecans. A dense, spiced fall cake that needs no frosting.

Bolognese sponge cake layered with vanilla custard and rum, frosted in coffee zabaglione buttercream, then crowned with chocolate-dipped almonds and walnut sides. From Il Cantoncino restaurant in Bologna.

Three-layer chocolate caramel bars with a fudgy brownie base, gooey pecan caramel topping, and a lacy semi-sweet chocolate drizzle. Makes 54 bars that store beautifully for 10 days. Think homemade turtle candy in cookie bar form.

Loaded chocolate pecan pie with homemade butter pastry, toasted pecan halves, semi-sweet chips, and unsweetened chocolate in a gooey dark corn syrup filling. A Thanksgiving showstopper.

Spiced butterhorn rolls made with yeasted dough cut into wedges, spread with egg white and sugar, sprinkled with nuts, and rolled into crescents with a butter frosting.

Fave dolci, Italian almond cookies shaped like fava beans with ground almonds, orange flower water, lemon zest, and cinnamon. A traditional Southern Italian sweet.

Chewy molasses oatmeal cookies with pecans, raisins, cinnamon, and cloves, drizzled with melted chocolate. Three cups of oats give these a hearty, old-fashioned chew.

Pecan and chocolate bars with a buttery shortbread base, toffee brickle bits, coconut, and melted chocolate on top. Three layers of crunch, chew, and richness in every square.