Dessert
3850 recipes found
Pear-Pomegranate Pie
In this welcome departure from the traditional apple pie, a combination of Anjou and Bosc pears are caramelized in a mixture of pomegranate molasses and butter, then combined with a smaller portion of fresh, uncooked pears. The whole glorious mess is then dumped into an all-butter crust and baked until tender. The happy result is a pie that's soft and sweet, tangy and toothsome, and oh so good. (Don't let making your own pie crust intimidate you: our pie guide has everything you need to know.)
Raspberry Swirl No-Bake Cheesecake
This stunning magenta-swirled dessert uses fresh or frozen raspberries to dress up a light and creamy no-bake cheesecake, making it a treat you can enjoy year-round. The recipe calls for straining the raspberry sauce to remove the seeds, but adding a small spoonful of the seeds back to the purée for texture and crunch is a nice touch. Make sure to allow plenty of time (at least 8 hours) for the cheesecake to chill and set before slicing. Even then, this silky dessert will be softer and more pudding-like than a traditional baked cheesecake. That’s the beauty of it.
Berry Coconut No-Bake Cheesecake
In the height of summer, turning on the oven should be considered off limits, but we still need dessert. For that, there's the no-bake cheesecake, which has all the richness of the baked version without any of the baking. Here, Biscoff cookies add a bit of spice, which pairs beautifully with toasted coconut, and we swap the heavy cream for rich, fluffy whipped coconut cream. The topping combines cooked and fresh berries for a wonderful variety of texture and flavor. Just about any varieties will work here, so use what looks best. A combination of blueberries and blackberries or raspberries is quite nice. Be sure to plan ahead with this recipe. The cans of coconut milk need to be chilled at least overnight, and as does the finished cheesecake before it can be sliced.
Strawberry Pavlova
The particular joy of this dreamy dessert, which was named in honor of the Russian ballerina, is that the meringue base can be made in advance. Then to serve it, drizzle the strawberries with a little balsamic vinegar and vanilla (a combination that brings out the fullest essential flavor of the fruit), whip some cream and arrange it all on a plate. It’s magnificent, and deliriously easy.
Chewy Peanut Butter-Marshmallow Bars
Classic cereal treats for the peanut butter fanatic, these marshmallow bars call for cornflakes instead of Rice Krispies, making for a wonderfully chewy-crunchy contrast. Cornflakes are delicate, so the key here is to avoid crushing the cereal too much when mixing the ingredients. The end result should be airy and chewy, but not dense, with visible chunks of marshmallow throughout. This recipe comes together quickly, so have your ingredients measured and ready to add to the pot when you begin. Once the chocolate topping has set, these bars pack well for picnics or potlucks, but if you’re concerned about the chocolate melting, you can skip it altogether and finish the bars with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Dipped Chocolate Anything
Tempering chocolate is not hard, but it’s a little bit tricky. You definitely need a candy thermometer (old-fashioned or digital) to measure three or four temperatures: roughly 115 degrees Fahrenheit and 91 and 88 degrees. Melt the chocolate slowly in a double boiler to about 115 degrees. Then to bring the temperature to dipping perfection (91 degrees), add more unmelted chocolate to the pot until the temperature is 91. At that point you can start dipping — fruit, graham crackers, cookies — whatever. When the chocolate reaches 88 degrees, if it lasts that long, the dipping must stop. But don’t worry, you can reheat the chocolate.
Lemon Cake With Coconut Icing
A version of this golden, tart-sweet confection was served at the 76th birthday of the legendary Southern chef, Edna Lewis. It is a true labor of love, so be sure to set aside a full afternoon to make it; this is not the sort of cake you want to rush.
Blueberry Pie With a Cornmeal Crust
This recipe came to The Times from Diana Scott-Sho of the Luscious Little Dessert Company in Yonkers. A picture of this pie prompted many an email from readers asking where they could get the recipe. What sets this pie apart from the usual summer berry is twofold. First, there’s the nubby cornmeal crust, nearly as sweet as a cookie but still flaky. Second, there is the blueberry syrup drizzled on the top. This was a genius move on Ms. Scott-Sho’s part. Rather than just letting the overflowing sugary juice fossilize on the baking sheet, she spoons it while still bubbling hot over the top of the pie. Not only does this make cleanup slightly easier, it adds a completely different textural experience. You get the jammy, juicy fruit, the crisp crust and then the syrup, which thickens into something akin to soft fruit leather, and far tastier.
Fresh Strawberry Pie
This pie is a celebration of perfectly ripe, summertime strawberries. Only two cups of the berries are cooked down into a quick jam, which holds the rest of the fruit together for a delightfully fresh pie. With a crunchy shortbread crust and a cloud of freshly whipped cream, it’s reminiscent of strawberry shortcake — but maybe even better.
Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia Child
In this unusual brownie recipe from the Boston pastry chef Rick Katz, half of the recipe’s eggs and sugar are mixed in with the chocolate, while the other half are beaten until they double in volume and are as light as sponge. Whipping the eggs creates the surprisingly creamy, soft and definitively fudgy texture.
Meringue Mess With Rhubarb and Strawberries
There is a traditional English dessert called Eton Mess, attributed to Eton College, in which broken meringues, strawberries and softly whipped cream are folded together. “Mess” in this context doesn’t mean “messy,” but rather “mixture.” This recipe is a springtime mess of rhubarb and strawberries. Feel free to substitute other berries or stone fruit as they come into season. It’s an easy dish to put together, especially if you use store-bought meringues. Instructions are given here for making meringues, but it is a bit of a project and one that should not be attempted in humid weather because the meringues will not set properly. If you prefer a more refined version, spread meringues with whipped cream, spoon the fruit on top, and call it Pavlova.
Sweet Potato Soufflé
This soufflé is not too sweet to serve as a starter at your Thanksgiving table, but it also makes an impressive dessert and it’s easier than pie to make. You can make individual soufflés or one large one.
Rye Pecan Pie
To streamline operations in the pastry kitchen at Diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the restaurant’s pastry chef, Avery Wittkamp, devised an enormous solution, which can be easily adopted by home cooks. She bakes this pie in a 10-inch springform pan, using a thicker, stretchable crust that can line the deep sides; it stays in place even when the pie is unmolded. Impressively, the tall bark-brown crust rises over a filling as wide, majestic and mahogany-brown as a redwood tree. She bakes the pie longer than usual to fully brown the crust, and gives it a higher crust-to-filling ratio than a traditional pie. She also deconstructs the traditional pecan pie filling into three strata: the custard, the chopped nuts and the whole nuts, each one delicious and distinct. (Don't be intimidated by homemade crust. Our pie crust guide will tell you everything you need to know.)
Almond Birthday Cake With Sherry-Lemon Buttercream
This is a layer cake with sophisticated flavors, fit for a grown-up’s birthday celebration but sure to be devoured by party guests of all ages. The cake itself is made with finely ground almonds, sour cream and a touch of lemon zest. The frosting is buttercream with cinnamon for spice and yet more zest. When you’re making the frosting, be sure to let the egg white mixture cool before adding the butter; the butter should not melt when it meets the whites, which would make for a greasy frosting. What you want is for the buttercream to be smooth and fluffy, an invitation to slice into the cake and take that first heavenly bite.
Affogato
L’affogato al caffè, a dessert of gelato drowned in espresso, is “one of Italy’s most delectable modern dishes,” writes Anna Del Conte in her “Gastronomy of Italy.” The ice cream can be fior di latte, vanilla or chocolate, or whatever you like. Dulce de leche, with its caramelized milkiness, would be wonderful, as would cherry amaretto. The magic of affogato is that you get two pleasures in one: a spoonable dessert sauced with coffee, and a cream-blushed drink to chase it. The sweet ice cream and bitter coffee should enhance, not overtake each other. Like the best partners, they should meet in the middle.
Lemon Meringue Pots de Crème
Lemon Sweet Rolls With Cream Cheese Icing
These sweet, lemony rolls are a fresh alternative to classic cinnamon rolls. A little cardamom in the dough and filling enhances the bright citrus flavor without overtaking it. This dough is adaptable: You can let the dough rise in the refrigerator, instead of at room temperature, so you can serve fresh, warm rolls for breakfast without getting up at the crack of dawn to make them.
Strawberries With Swedish Cream
Here’s a perfect summer recipe from “How to Cook Everything” for berries with Swedish cream — a mixture of sour and fresh cream, is akin to crème fraîche, but quicker to make (and certainly with easier-to-find ingredients). Make this with any berries you like.
Cinnamon Squares
You could think of these cinnamon squares as the wintry brother of tangy, summery lemon bars, but what they really are is shortbread topped with a cinnamon-infused glaze, perfect with a cup of tea or a mug of coffee. And it is a reassuringly straightforward recipe. Make the crust and press it into a pan, bake it and let it cool. Drizzle a warm cinnamon glaze over it, cut and serve. Inhaling is wonderful; eating is even better.
Rustic Apple Streusel Pie
Be sure to slice the apples thin so that they cook in the amount of time needed to bake the crust — this isn’t a chunky filling.
Foolproof Tarte Tatin
Tarte Tatin isn't as American as apple pie, but it's a whole lot easier. With just four ingredients, it's all about the apples: the lovely taste and shape of the fruit are preserved by sugar and heat, with a buttery-salty crust underneath. This recipe from Gotham Bar and Grill in New York has a couple of tricks that make it easier to pull off than others: dry the apples out before baking; start by coating the pan with butter instead of making a caramel; use tall chunks of apple and hug them together in the pan to prevent overcooking.
Pumpkin Pie With a Vodka Crust
This recipe made waves among home bakers when it was published by Cook's Illustrated magazine in 2008 because of its brilliant use of vodka in the dough, which all but ensures that the baked crust is tender. The vodka, which evaporates in the hot oven, is essential here, and you shouldn't taste it in the finished crust, so do not skip it. The filling is delicious too, pillowy with a deep, rich flavor. Cook's Illustrated advised readers to add the filling to the prebaked crust when both the crust and the filling are still warm; it helps ensure accurate cooking times and a crisp crust.
Boston Cream Pie
An American classic, Boston cream pie isn't a pie at all. Its base is an old-fashioned hot milk cake, a downy-soft, buttery yellow cake. How you whip the eggs and the sugar is critical, as the tiny air bubbles they produce add lift to the finished product. This traditional version is best the day it's made, but will hold up in the fridge for a couple of days. You may just notice a slight change in texture. Slathered with homemade vanilla custard and a chocolate glaze, it hits all the right notes, but it would be just as lovely served with in-season berries or layered with chocolate or coffee custard instead of vanilla. Make it as is, or go rogue. Either way, it’s sure to please.
Chocolate Silk Pie
Light yet rich, this magical dessert is like the grown-up version of the chocolate pudding pie of your youth. It requires a bit more work, but nothing terribly taxing. Just whip melted chocolate, butter and eggs into a mousse, and then pour it all into a chocolate cookie crust. Chill and enjoy. It's the perfect make-ahead dessert for a crowd.