Desserts

This jeweled holiday fruitcake glows with green and red candied cherries, figs, and dates. Golden raisins and pecans fill in the gaps, and a whisper of nutmeg runs through the whole thing. It bakes low and slow, then waits — like all good fruitcakes — for slicing day....

Flora's famous stretched apple strudel is all about the dough: stretched, not rolled, until it's thin enough to read a newspaper through. Tart apples, raisins, walnuts, coconut, and a swipe of jam roll up inside, and the simple flour-and-oil dough bakes up...

Dark, moist, and rich — this holiday fruitcake is the one that converts the skeptics. Apricots, prunes, dates, and currants plump up around candied peel and pecans, with half whole-wheat flour in the mix for depth. Bake it ahead of time; it only improves with a rest....

Classic French chocolate buttercream is the yolk-based one — silky, deeply chocolate, and sturdy enough to pipe. You cook the yolks and sugar into a light custard low and slow, beat in soft butter, then sift in the cocoa. It pipes beautifully and holds its shape on...

Aunt Wenia's Polish rum layer cake, a family mazurek, soaks a thin sponge in rum and stacks it with plum jam, walnuts, raisins, and candied orange peel under chocolate buttercream. It's a holiday centerpiece with a story behind it, and it genuinely improves...

Zuppa Inglese, Italy's playful 'English soup,' is no soup at all but layers of rum-brushed sponge and silky Marsala custard. A thin slick of apricot or peach marmalade cuts the richness and keeps every bite interesting. Make it a day ahead — it needs...

Vegetarian spumoni cake turns the classic Italian dessert into a chilled, sliceable showpiece of genoise, espresso, and cocoa. A day-old sponge layer so up the brandy-spiked coffee, then everything rests until firm. It's an overnight project with under an hour of...

Decadent chocolate rum cheesecake is the dessert I make when I want silence at the table. Melted semisweet chocolate, a generous measure of dark rum, and sour cream make the filling dense, dark, and just boozy enough over its graham cracker crust. Plan ahead — it...

This elegant lemon almond torte stacks crisp meringue layers with sharp lemon filling and not a speck of flour anywhere. Ground almonds and cornstarch give the layers body, so the whole torte is naturally gluten-free. Blanched almond halves on top make it look like it...

A classic vegetarian genoise cake gets all of its lift from whole eggs whipped warm with sugar — no leavening at all. Grated lemon rind perfumes the crumb, and a generous fold of melted butter keeps it moist. Master this one and a whole world of layered European cakes...

This classic vegetarian sponge cake is featherlight, tall, and built on separated eggs whipped to their fullest. A stream of boiling water beaten into the yolks, plus melted butter folded in at the end, keeps the crumb tender and golden. It's the kind of sponge...

Savory veggie profiteroles turn choux pastry into party food: small golden puffs split and filled with chopped hard-boiled eggs, parsley, marinated mushrooms, and cooked asparagus. They look like they came from a bakery case and take about seventy minutes end to end....