Dessert recipe collection

Swiss Leckerli cookies: honey-spiced almond bars with candied citrus peel and kirsch, finished with a hardening sugar glaze. Traditional Basel Christmas market sweet that improves with age.

Berlin Doughnuts (Bismarks) are classic German jam-filled yeasted doughnuts with rum extract and orange juice in the dough, deep-fried and sugared. Makes 12 pillowy doughnuts.

Fluffy pink grapefruit frosting is a seven-minute frosting made with egg whites, sugar, and grapefruit juice beaten over a double boiler into billowy, citrus-scented peaks.

hese are perfect for serving with coffee and dessert, and I include them in boxes of home-made assorted cookies for gift giving

No-bake French mint cupcakes with melted semi-sweet chocolate, butter, powdered sugar, and peppermint extract frozen in paper cups. Rich, fudgy, and truffle-like with a nutty crunch.

Fresh apple butter cake loaded with diced McIntosh apples and walnuts, baked in a tube pan and drizzled with a warm sherry glaze. Dense, spiced, and indulgent.

Fried apple pies with a cheddar cheese pastry and a cinnamon-apple filling with grated cheese. A Southern hand pie fried golden in a skillet.

Friendship cake made with brandied fruit starter, butter pecan cake mix, and instant pudding for a dense, moist Bundt cake loaded with pecans and boozy fruit.

Frozen chocolate cheesecake torte with cream cheese, unsweetened chocolate, whipped cream, and pecans on a chocolate wafer crust. A no-bake frozen dessert that slices like ice cream cake.

No-bake frozen coconut cream pie with cream cheese, shredded coconut, and whipped topping in a graham cracker crust. A creamy, tropical freezer dessert with just 10 minutes of prep.

Fudge-almond cheesecake on a spicy gingersnap crust, flavored with almond and vanilla extracts, then topped with a glossy semi-sweet chocolate fudge layer. Rich, creamy, no-crack method.

German apple torte (apfeltorte): a butterless single-layer cake with diced apples and walnuts, golden and crunchy on top. Eight ingredients, 60 minutes, serves six.

Giant almond Florentines bake whole 8-inch caramel-almond rounds in foil pie pans, then finish with a chocolate-coated bottom. Crisp, lacy, and dramatic. The classic European cookie scaled up to plate-size.

A great, easy recipe, it is the first time for me to try it, really good, my 5 year old son kept eating them, and told me how yummy they are, a big hit.

Double-crust apple cranberry pie with crystallized ginger, lemon zest, and allspice. Decorated with pastry leaves and finished with demerara sugar for sparkle.

Make this delicious golden fruitcake to serve as a dessert, or wrap it up nicely as a gift.