Dessert
3839 recipes found
Sock-It-to-Me Cake
This vintage cake recipe is part pound cake, part coffee cake, but, here, a crunchy brown sugar-pecan blend is inside the cake — rather than on top — for tidier eating and a better bite. Getting its name from a popular phrase in the 1960s, prominently featured in the song “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, this cake is made with abundance in mind. It’s inviting on its own, and perfect for coffee or brunch, or dessert. Make it for a group of people you love, or people you’re just getting to know. They’re going to ask you all about the recipe.
Classic Lemon Tart
This classic lemon tart has a buttery, shortbread crust and a soft, dense lemon curd filling that barely holds its shape when you cut a slice. The textures should be a combination of crunchy and velvety; the flavor, sharp and tangy, with just enough sugar to take the edge off the citrus. This version has all of that, with one tweak for ease. Instead of making a traditional dough that needs to be shaped with a rolling pin, this one has a simple press-in-the-pan cookie crust made with melted butter. For a nutty-scented brown butter crust, let the butter cook until it turns golden. This tart is at its best when served on the day it’s baked, but it’s still delightful a day or two later (though the crust will lose some of its crispness). Store it in the refrigerator and serve it cold or at room temperature.
Chocolate Whiskey Cake With Coffee Caramel
While traditional wedding cakes often combine bright, crowd-pleasing fruits like citrus and berries with richer flavors like vanilla and cream, a second cake (sometimes called a groom’s cake) is the couple’s chance to get weirder, boozier and more playful. Crucially, the cake can appear more rustic and simple, since it’s not in the same spotlight as a tiered centerpiece. Here, a tender cocoa cake is baked — and served — right out of its pan. Instead of thin, alternating layers of cake, buttercream and jam, this sheet cake is soaked with a whiskey and coffee-spiked milk, then topped with a glossy boiled caramel glaze and a final dusting of cocoa powder. No weddings on the horizon? This cake is great for anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Toasted Sesame and Citrus Wedding Cake
Everyone loves receiving a homemade gift, but how about a showstopping, two-tiered, citrus-festooned, sesame-laced wedding cake? With a little planning (and an organized freezer), it’s so much easier than you think. Thin, even layers of vanilla sponge cake, soaked with a vivid citrus syrup, are draped like lasagna sheets into pans, along with swaths of nutty sesame buttercream, charred citrus compote and a granola-adjacent sesame crunch. The cake rests while you do, then is removed from the pans, coated in buttercream, packed up and assembled the day of the wedding. There's no finer — or more delicious — way to allow the effort, care and creativity of its maker to come through. And don’t forget to save and freeze the excess cake scraps for ice cream sandwiches, trifles or snacking. For the equipment you’ll need to put this cake together, check our Wirecutter’s recommendations for baking essentials and cake decorating tools.
Double Strawberry Shortcakes
With fresh berries in both the filling and the biscuits, these strawberry shortcakes double up on the fruit, making them especially juicy. To keep the shortcakes from turning soggy, the berries are briefly macerated before baking, which keeps them from weeping into the pastry. Poppy seeds add a slight nutty crunch, but you can leave them out if you prefer. Bake the shortcakes up to eight hours ahead, but, for the best texture, don’t layer them with the cream and berries until serving.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart
Briefly simmering fresh strawberries in a light sugar syrup before baking them into a tart keeps the berries plump and juicy and the crust from becoming soggy. Here, the syrupy berries are layered with a cream cheese filling and baked on a sheet of store-bought puff pastry, which turns golden and flaky in the oven. Quick to put together and elegant to serve, it’s a terrific way to showcase the fresh berries.
Strawberry Almond Cakes
These tender, strawberry-filled almond cakes are a riff on financiers, diminutive French pastries made from almond flour and browned butter. To get the most intensity from the berries, they are briefly roasted before being mixed into the batter. Roasting condenses the berries’ flavor and helps keep them from leaking juices into the cakes, which can make their light crumb heavy and a bit damp. Serve these cakes by themselves as a simple dessert or teatime snack, or with a scoop of strawberry ice cream or sorbet for something richer and fancier. Although they’re at their crisp-edged best served on the day they’re baked, they’ll keep for a day or two stored airtight at room temperature.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20230523-SEA-CrepeCake-RobbyLozano-03-cf98f48111f7457e8e97d291265133be.jpg)
Crêpe Cake (Gâteau de Crêpes)
With layers of paper-thin crêpes and luxurious pastry cream lightened with whipped cream, this is a stunning dessert worth making for a special occasion.
Pastillas de Leche (Milk Candies)
Pastillas de leche are Filipino candies traditionally made by cooking down carabao (water buffalo) milk for hours. (Although the recipe is native to the Philippines, the name comes from Spanish: Pastilla describes the lozenge shape and leche is milk.) Abi Balingit, the author of the dessert cookbook “Mayumu” (Harvest 2023), offers a beautifully simple, no-cook shortcut: You sift whole milk powder and salt, then mix in condensed milk until a dough forms. Roll into snowy white logs, then dust the soft, creamy treats in sugar. That’s it — there’s no waiting; you can eat them right away.
Savory Fruit Salad
This colorful, sweet-tart fruit salad has a savory twist, making it a vibrant side dish, a refreshing dessert or both. Fresh fennel gives the salad an unexpected, subtle anise fragrance, and adds crisp texture to counter the soft, juicy fruit. A few berries mashed with golden honey and fresh orange juice provide moisture, and a deeper layer of natural sweetness. A final addition of fresh mint, lime juice and salt perks up the fruit and brightens the salad.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
These simple, fuss-free cupcakes cram all of the beloved flavors of classic carrot cake into nostalgic, portable treats. The batter is made with melted butter, allowing you to quickly mix it in one bowl. It’s flavored with a generous amount of ground cinnamon and shredded carrots to add an earthy flavor and unbeatable moistness. An optional add-in of chopped nuts or raisins lets you customize the batter to produce your ideal version of carrot cake. Finishing the cupcakes with a swoosh of fluffy, just-sweet-enough cream cheese frosting makes them fit for any celebration.
Chocolate Waffles
Waffles topped with something sweet are special, but the deep, rich notes from unsweetened cocoa and sweetness from dark brown sugar in this dessert cosplaying as breakfast may please chocolate lovers even more. Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream, and fresh berries for color and texture, or take them a step further with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. The waffle batter can be prepared ahead and stored refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and cook as directed in Step 3. The cooked waffles can be tightly wrapped and stored in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. To serve, toast a frozen waffle in a toaster, toaster oven or an oven set to 375 degrees.
Strawberry Parfait
Ricotta cream — sweetened fresh ricotta, lightly whipped — is used in Sicily to fill cannoli or frost traditional cakes. Here, it’s combined with whipped cream and strawberries for a layered “parfait” and a very simple but impressive dessert.
Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
In this simple cheesecake, the luscious filling is held together between two layers of flaky pastry, generously dusted with cinnamon sugar. The recipe is a Southwestern tradition, taking inspiration from sopapillas, pieces of dough dropped in hot oil until they puff into little pillows with origins that go back to Latin America and regions of the United States that were once part of Mexico. Maria Kitsopoulos, a cellist with The New York Philharmonic, created her recipe for the cheesecake with extra cinnamon (and less sugar) based on a version by the blogger Deborah Harroun.
Marble Cake
Buttery and not too sweet, this pound cake has a fine, tender crumb that’s lovely with tea, coffee and on its own. Because chocolate tends to be the flavor that dominates marble cake, this version includes potent almond extract in the vanilla swirl and delicate orange blossom water in the cocoa batter, so the two tastes balance and complement each other. The cake develops even deeper flavors over time and keeps well at room temperature in an airtight container. It holds up in the freezer as well, wrapped tightly, for up to three months.
Pink Grapefruit Bars
Think of these pink grapefruit bars as the ritzier, more alluring version of classic lemon bars. By swapping out the lemon for grapefruit juice, the bars take on a floral quality and bittersweet complexity. For the boldest flavor, avoid using store-bought grapefruit juice, which often contains added sugar to tame its tartness, and opt for juicing your own. To further enliven the bars, zest the grapefruits and massage the zest into the sugar for the filling. The oils in the zest will perfume the sugar and embolden the grapefruit flavor. For an eye-catching presentation, shower the bars in a blend of freeze-dried strawberries and confectioners’ sugar before serving. The dusting provides a subtle sweetness and a vibrant rosy hue that alludes to the flavor within.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
There is nothing more magical than a gooey-centered, crispy-edged chocolate chip cookie. What makes this particular recipe especially enchanting is the inclusion of brown butter. It mixes right into the dry ingredients, infusing the batter with its nutty flavor without the need for a mixer or any other special equipment. An optional dash of cinnamon has a warmth that feels like a hug, and the brown sugar gives you that chew with a slight molasses taste. Whether for a holiday or an afternoon snack, these cookies may become your go-to.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20230407-SEA-AvocadoMousse-AmandaSuarez-hero-4f1d94be0db64faeb62d45a73983bbc8.jpg)
Avocado Chocolate Mousse
The secret to ultra-creamy and velvety smooth vegan chocolate mousse? Ripe avocados.
Dòuhuā (Silken Tofu With Ginger Syrup)
A mainstay at dim sum restaurants and a popular street food in China and Southeast Asia, this cozy tofu pudding is as simple as scooping tofu and pouring gingery syrup on top. Also known as dòufuhuā in Mandarin (“bean curd flower” or “tofu flower”), dòuhuā is typically made with freshly made tender tofu, but packaged silken tofu makes the treat extra doable at home. For wonderful, custardy results, select silken tofu that’s been molded in its tub. (Block tofu sitting in a moat of water tends to be too firm.) Using a broad, shallow spoon to scoop out the tofu creates thin, wide shards, yielding maximum surface area exposure to the zippy ginger syrup. Warming the tofu in the microwave reveals its tender richness to mimic the texture of fresh dòuhuā. Old-school renditions feature just tofu and ginger syrup, but modern ones might include a wide range of add-ins similar to those offered for shaved-ice or boba treats. Canned mandarin orange segments would add vibrant contrast.
Brownies With Coffee and Cardamom
These brownies are infused with the flavors of Arabic coffee, which traditionally include ground cardamom and often other spices such cinnamon, saffron or rose water. Proper bar chocolate or chips, not cocoa powder, gives the brownies a deep chocolate taste that is complemented by the coffee and spices. This recipe calls for an electric mixer, but you can also whisk the eggs and the sugar together. It will take a little time, but the results are worth it.
Kumquat Panna Cotta
Panna cotta is a creamy dessert custard, set with gelatin instead of eggs. It’s lovely plain or with a drizzle of honey on top. And, of course, it’s delicious with berries or stone fruit. Here, it’s topped with quickly candied kumquat slices, but a spoonful of marmalade or other homemade jam can be nice instead.
Cherry Almond Cake
Using frozen fruit is a great way to bring some summer sunshine to your baking all year round. It’s dependably sweet, delicious and usually affordable. Frozen fruit does tend to let off a lot juice, so it’s a good idea to thaw it first and let some of the liquid drain before adding it in. If you don’t have time to thaw your fruit, you can still bake this cake, but the fruit will sink to the bottom. Cherry and almond are a classic combination, but wild blueberries or chopped peaches would work, too. This naturally gluten-free cake is made with almond flour, which has the potential to make it dense. But whipped egg whites folded into the batter ensure that the cake is light and fluffy, despite being made almost entirely of nuts.
Adobo Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies amaze with a salted caramel richness that comes from bay leaves, soy sauce and vinegar, key ingredients in many savory Filipino adobo dishes, bound by toasty brown butter. This chocolate chip cookie recipe is adapted from “Mayumu: Filipino American Desserts Remixed” (Harvest, 2023) by Abi Balingit. In it, she writes of her “insatiable desire for new combinations of sweet, salty, savory, sour and umami in desserts,” and this cookie hits all of those notes. But Ms. Balingit balances those seasonings so no single flavor distracts from the thrill of tasting something familiar with a totally new depth. Crisp around the edges and soft through the centers, they also have a fruity, aromatic pop of pink peppercorns on top.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20230323-SEA-CornflakeCripsies-AmandaSuarez-77f40ddf71de441a93653c1bfd9f415f.JPG)
Cornflake Marshmallow Treats
The naturally sweet and earthy flavor of Corn Flakes shines in this riff on classic Rice Krispies treats.