Dessert
3839 recipes found
Vanilla Cake
This fluffy vanilla cake makes an ideal base for layer cakes of all kinds. Buttermilk gives the cake a bit of tang and a tender crumb, and a full tablespoon of vanilla extract in the batter ensures it’s anything but plain. Layer diced fresh fruit between the cakes and top with powdered sugar, or decorate with a double batch of buttercream frosting and sprinkles for a classic birthday cake.
Orange Salad With Pomegranate
For dessert, a simple fruit salad like this one after a meal is always welcome, refreshing and palate-cleansing. The only real challenge is peeling the oranges with a sharp knife, leaving them spherical and ready to cut into thin slices. Want to doll it up? Surround the platter with Medjool dates or honey dates and serve with almond or walnut cookies.
Ayote en Miel (Squash With Spiced Syrup)
Many countries throughout Latin America honor their ancestors on Día de los Muertos, which is often celebrated Nov. 1 and 2, with dishes like pan de muerto or this recipe for ayote en miel. Though this dish is enjoyed in many countries, this recipe is from El Salvador by Alicia Maher, the author of “Delicious El Salvador” (Pacific Apicius Corporation, 2013). Ayote is a squash that is native to this region and is similar to cinderella pumpkin or butternut squash in the United States. The squash is braised with panela or piloncillo, water and spices, which cook down until as syrupy as honey. Serve the jammy pieces in a shallow bowl with spoonfuls of the spiced syrup on top. In some countries, the dish is served with crema, but in Ecuador, the dish is served throughout the year, often accompanied by queso fresco or quesillo, a cheese similar to fresh mozzarella.
Rice Pudding
The size and quality of the rice matters in this classic pudding: A medium-grain rice is starchy enough to thicken it, but it won’t soften so much that it completely disintegrates. Using a 2-quart saucepan is also important. If the pan is larger or wider, the liquid will evaporate faster than the rice cooks. If you prefer a looser pudding, or plan on serving it cold (it thickens as it sits), remove it from the heat as soon as the rice softens; or cook it a bit longer if you like a thicker pudding. For an extra-rich dessert, stir in egg yolks and butter, or further elevate it by adding some rum-soaked raisins.
Gulab Jamun
Gulab jamun is a South Asian dessert of fragrant, syrup-soaked rounds of fried dough. Gulab means “rose water” in Persian, and jamun means “black plum” in Hindi-Urdu, a reference to the sweet’s shape. The dough, traditionally made with khoya, a type of dried milk, is combined with flour and whole milk to form a soft and sticky dough. (Nonfat dry milk powder is used here.) Shaping the jamun takes a little practice — optimally, they should be smooth with no visible cracks, so they don’t fall apart in the hot oil — but the more you roll, the easier it gets. Once fried, the jamun are soaked in a rose water, cardamom and saffron syrup. Serve warm, drizzled with a little of their syrup and a side of vanilla ice cream, if you like.
No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
This no-bake cheesecake has a lot going for it: a buttery, lightly spiced cookie crust, fluffy pumpkin filling and a lofty spiced topping. Another draw: If you decide to make this for Thanksgiving, it won’t need any precious oven space — and can be prepared up to four days in advance. Feel free to substitute about 2 tablespoons of your favorite pumpkin spice blend for the spices in the cheesecake. The topping is optional, and you can also serve it on the side, instead of crowning the cheesecake. If you can’t find Biscoff cookies, use crunchy gingersnap cookie crumbs instead.
Popcorn Balls
A joy to both make and eat, popcorn balls are a chewy and sweet treat prepared with a mix of mini marshmallows, powdered sugar and corn syrup. Dress them up for special occasions with a variety of mix-ins, such as candies, colorful sprinkles, crushed pretzels, crumbled cookies and food coloring. To ensure the popcorn balls stay intact, the popcorn is kept warm in the oven until it’s ready to be mixed with the hot marshmallow cream. You’ll need to shape the popcorn balls fairly quickly, so this becomes a fun activity for the kids to lend a hand.
Brownies
There are many kinds of brownies, but this simple recipe aims for a chewy, fudgy texture with a shiny, crackly top. Theories abound on what creates that delectable flaky top layer, but here, it is achieved by dissolving the sugar into the butter, then stirring in chocolate chips until melted. Use semisweet chocolate for sweeter brownies, or dark for a slightly more grownup treat, and feel free to stir in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans before baking if you like a little extra crunch. For easy cutting, let the brownies cool completely and use a hot, dry knife, wiping off the crumbs in between cuts.
Easy Skillet Brownies
These simple brownies are mixed and baked in the same skillet. Chewy and fudgy, they’re everything you want in a brownie but faster and with less mess to clean up. If you don’t have an ovenproof nonstick skillet (preferably ceramic, or you could try this in a very well-seasoned cast-iron pan), pour the batter into a greased 9-inch square pan for baking. You can let the brownies cool and cut them into wedges or squares. Or, serve them warm from the oven and straight from the pan, preferably with a scoop of ice cream plopped on top.
Baked Alaska
The creation of baked alaska is commonly attributed to Charles Ranhofer, the chef at Delmonico’s restaurant in New York who served the dessert as a commentary on the United States’ purchase of the Alaska territory in 1867. He called it ‘Alaska, Florida’ — the contrast between frozen ice cream and torched meringue represented the difference in the country’s climates. Consisting of a cake base in addition to the ice cream and meringue, it sounds complicated, but with a little patience, baked alaska is surprisingly simple to make at home. It takes time to let each layer freeze, but that makes it an ideal dessert to prepare in advance. Chocolate and cherry ice cream are just suggestions; feel free to choose your own favorites, keeping in mind that contrasting colors will make for a particularly beautiful dessert.
Pumpkin Pie Bars
Pumpkin pie bars boast the same creamy, spiced pumpkin filling as a classic pumpkin pie but in slightly different proportions. A traditional pumpkin pie has about 3 inches of filling and a mere quarter inch of pastry, but a pie bar offers a more even ratio of base to filling. This recipe starts with gingersnap cookie crumbs mixed with a bit of flour, butter and sugar to transform the bottom into something more akin to a soft cake. Topped with the perfect amount of sweet pumpkin filling, these bars are a lighter, more casual version of the classic. For a little extra flavor, add ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger to the cream before whipping.
Easy Banana Bread
This recipe makes a simple and classic banana bread — lightly spiced with a hint of cinnamon, and incredibly tender thanks to a dollop of sour cream in the batter. For best results, use very ripe bananas, but know the recipe will still work if yours are not yet at the speckly stage. While banana bread is, of course, delicious when it’s warm from the oven, the flavor and texture are actually the best on the second day (if you can wait that long). Feel free to mix 1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips, or a combination, into the batter for this easy, everyday treat.
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
A few techniques produce these ultra-pillowy and lightly bready cinnamon rolls: The first is scalding the milk, which leads to improved gluten development in the dough; the second is cooking a portion of the liquid and the flour into a rouxlike mixture called a tangzhong, which, when added to the dough, increases its ability to hold onto liquid; and the third is a long, slow mix, which fully develops the gluten network and allows the buns to trap air as they bake in the oven.
Nutella Brownies
These dreamy four-ingredient Nutella brownies are assembled in less than five minutes. Nutella is the recipe’s workhorse, rendering obsolete the need for sugar, leavening and fat. Instead, the magical combination of chocolate-hazelnut spread, a little flour, a couple of eggs and a generous dash of salt, results in the fudgiest, chewiest and easiest of Nutella brownies. If a simpler brownie recipe exists, we have yet to be introduced.
Lemon Cupcakes
These little cupcakes are light, fluffy and packed with bright lemon flavor. Topped with a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting, they are both well-balanced and indulgent — and easy to prepare in one bowl. While you will need two to three lemons to yield enough zest for the cakes, you may not need to cut so many open for ¼ cup of juice. To save the remaining zested lemons for another recipe, be sure to wrap them in plastic wrap. Without the zest, bald lemons tend to harden in the fridge fast. The frosted cupcakes are best the day they’re made, but you can make the cakes in advance and freeze them for up to 1 month in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature to frost and serve.
Plum Crostata
This showstopping Italian-style fruit tart nestles juicy ripe plums — any type, or substitute apricots — into a sweet pastry shell. This recipe makes enough for two crusts: Save the second in the freezer so you can make a second tart any time you like.
Flan
Flan can trace its origin back to the Roman empire, when chickens were domesticated and an abundance of eggs led to the creation of a savory, flat cream-and-egg custard cake called “flado.” It was later, during the Middle Ages, that a sweet version of flado grew in popularity in Spain, finding its way to the Americas and eventually spreading across Latin America. This flan was inspired by the flavors of Mexican tres leches cake and uses the same three milks — evaporated, condensed and whole — to give a rich and creamy texture to the custard. A full tablespoon of vanilla extract breaks through the richness of the milks and adds a classic dessert note. To further amplify the vanilla flavor, substitute an equal amount of vanilla bean paste or 1 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped, for the extract.
Sugar Cookies
What sets drop-style sugar cookies apart from classic cut-outs is that you don’t need to roll out the dough or dig deep into drawers in search of cookie cutters. Simply scoop and roll the dough into balls, then slightly flatten and bake. The dough needs to chill in the fridge for at least an hour so the cookies don’t spread too much during baking, but this can be done up to a day in advance. Follow this approach and the cookies will be irresistibly soft, yet chewy in the middle and a little crisp around the edges. They are fantastic as is, but you can top with extra sugar or sprinkles, or exchange the vanilla for a little almond or lemon extract to play around with the flavor.
Baklava
Baklava is an iconic pastry that defies borders: It’s beloved in Turkey, Greece, Central Asia, the Balkans and beyond, and each of these regions boasts its own variety. This version, with its honey syrup, leans into the Greek version. Store-bought phyllo makes preparing a pan of homemade baklava much easier, but it does require a little patience. There are no cutting corners when it comes to buttering every couple of sheets of phyllo, but your efforts will yield shatteringly thin layers of pastry. Making and chilling the syrup in advance of pouring it on top of the pastry is an important step, as it allows the baklava to fully absorb the sticky sweetness, reducing pooling on the bottom of the pan.
Key Lime Pie
Key limes, with their distinct tartness and slightly floral aroma, lend a delightfully sharp flavor to this classic American pie. They can be hard to find, especially out of season and outside of Florida, and juicing the diminutive limes can sometimes feel like a big effort. This recipe allows you to choose your own adventure: fresh fruit for Key lime purists, bottled stuff for shortcut seekers, or a blend of Persian lime juice (from the limes most commonly found in grocery stores) bolstered with a little lemon juice, for those seeking a solid substitution. The amount of salt in the crust may seem like a lot, but it offsets the tart curd and rich whipped topping. Try adding ¼ cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to the crust for a fun twist on the classic. This pie freezes like a dream, providing a great make-ahead dessert and a taste of the beach any time.
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Fifteens (Northern Irish Digestive Biscuits and Marshmallows With Cherries)
Fifteen digestive biscuits, 15 glacé cherries, and 15 marshmallows comprise this quick and easy no-bake “traybake."
Dump Cake
Dump cake is a classic American dessert that became popular with the production and marketing of store-bought boxed cake mixes. But it’s more like a cobbler than a cake — it’s filled with fruit and, as the name suggests, all the ingredients are “dumped” in a dish and baked in the oven. Canned cherry pie filling mixed with crushed pineapple is traditional, but feel free to swap out with other canned fruit, like peaches or strawberry pie filling. For a little crunch, add some nuts, such as sliced almonds or chopped pecans. Dump cake is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. This truly low-effort dessert is an easy way to feed a crowd any time of year.
Pistachio Macarons
Most of the pistachio flavor in these macarons comes from the filling, which contains pistachio spread (sometimes called pistachio cream), a sweetened mixture of ground pistachios and sugar. Look for it in specialty food stores or Italian grocers.
Chocolate Macarons
Chocolate macarons are beloved for a couple of reasons: First, the bitterness of cocoa and barely sweet ganache is a good foil for the sugariness of the meringue shells. Second, the cocoa in the batter masks any color the meringue might take on during baking, so there’s a wider margin of error for your oven temperature compared with other flavors.