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Holiday Baking: Cakes & Pies
by Patricia Mitchell
Find that rolling pin and dig out the sifter. Holiday baking season is upon us! Never will there be a better time all year to indulge your creative urges while lavishing affection, in the form of fantastic desserts, upon those you love. Your choice of recipes will be determined by a number of factors like time, talent and how much you love chocolate.

Extraordinary Christmas Treats
by Lori Grossman
If you've read any of my food features on this web site - and I hope you have - you have noticed that I like unusual subjects and/or recipes. On the other hand, I'm a traditionalist at heart, especially at Christmas. I solve this conflict by enjoying the usual treats, and finding one or two new ones to keep things interesting. Are you looking for different cookies this year? Well, throw caution to the wind and try a few of these recipes.

Tortilla Desserts
by Lori Grossman
More often than not, after stuffing myself with my favorite Tex-Mex meal, the last thing on my mind is dessert. Every now and then, however, I do check out the offerings and find the usual (admittedly delicious) standbys: flan, sopaipillas, and Mexican pralines. Not bad, but I'm always on the lookout for something a bit different.

Banana Desserts: Just the Ticket for Winter
by Patricia Mitchell
According to Patricia Mitchell, &It certainly doesn't require bad weather to inspire cooking up something good, but it doesn't hurt either." Her inspired recipes include a collection of luscious banana desserts. And why bananas? They are available everywhere all year round.

Swede Christmas Cookies
by Lori Grossman
How long has it been since you whipped up a batch of pepperkaker? Or some mouth-watering krumkaker? If you've never tried (or even heard of) these Swedish delights, head for that hotbed of Scandinavian food and culture - the great state of Texas.

Ice Cream Pies: A Hot Weather Treat
by Patricia Mitchell
Ice cream lovers appreciate ice cream pie at any time of year. But nothing persuades like a summer heat wave when you want a cool, delicious treat that everyone will love. The cook need not do a whole lot of cooking. In fact, an ice cream pie can be prepared and stored in the freezer for up to two weeks prior to serving. You just may want to make two so you'll have an extra special dessert on hand.

Patchwork Pies
by Jay Ann Cox
Patchwork Pie is my fondest dream during the holidays. It's not something that I've ever done, but I sure have wanted to. I keep thinking that maybe this Thanksgiving will be the one where I'll make a Patchwork Pie. . Think of it as a United Nations for pie. Take a slice from each independent pie nation - apple, cherry, buttermilk, pecan, chocolate, pumpkin, lemon, berry - and create an entire pie in patchwork.

In Search of The Perfect Fruitcake
by Jay Ann Cox
There seem to be two types of people in the world: those who adore fruitcake, and those who despise it. There is very little middle ground. No one seems merely to like it. Even Johnny Carson famously said that he believes there to be only one fruitcake in the world, and everyone keeps passing it off as a gift, year after year.

Pineapple Layer Cake & More Quick Summer Desserts
by Sidney Carlisle
"By the time August rolls around most of us are tired of the usual summer menu. A steady diet of grilled foods and watermelon will eventually become boring, no matter who's doing the cooking." You won't sacrifice taste for ease of preparation with this trio of desserts including Blueberry Pie, Pineapple Layer Cake and Strawberries, Cream and Crust.

How to Use an Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Freezer
by Patricia Mitchell
Maybe you inherited an old-fashioned, hand-cranked (or electric) ice cream freezer. Or perhaps you retrieved your own down from the rafters and dusted the cobwebs off it. In any case, you don't have any instructions, and can't really remember the process.

Holiday Goodies & The NWC Principle
by Sidney Carlisle
Sidney Carlisle enjoys both cooking and eating, especially during the holidays. She's not about to give up the dishes she loves in the name of "healthy eating" so she draws upon the NWC Principle to keep things in perspective. She shares NWC with us, along with dynamite recipes for Coconut Date Balls, Mincemeat Muffins and Cherry Pie Filling Salad.

Fall Into Pumpkin Desserts
by Sidney Carlisle
October is the beginning of pumpkin season and signals the approach of the two official pumpkin holidays - Halloween and Thanksgiving. Sidney Carlisle goes through everything picking and carving pumpkins, to making homemade pumpkin pie and pumpkin cake. She also shows how to cook fresh pumpkin.

Genuine Strawberry Shortcake
by Patricia Mitchell
These days, just about anything that has strawberries and whipped cream heaped upon it, from pound cake to pie pastry to puff pastry, is called Strawberry Shortcake. But I am concerning myself here with the type of shortcake that is traditionally found in this favorite dessert. The shortcake that I refer to is much like a biscuit or scone, being very light and crumbly, and is lightly sweetened so as not to detract from the natural sweetness and flavor of the strawberries.

Fruitcake Subculture Conspiracy
by Dorothy Sibole
Chef Dorothy Sibole challenges all fruitcake lovers to rise up and come to the defense of this much-maligned holiday tradition. She reminds us that fruitcake need not be an object of ridicule but is, instead, a dense, moist, fruit-and-nut-laden, spirit-drenched cake that you can make in your own kitchen with your own choice of dried fruits, nuts and flavorings. Always creative, Dorothy shares her basic fruitcake recipe along with several delicious variations.

Mystery Solved - Tres Leches Cake
by Dorothy Sibole
One bite of Tres Leches Cake inspired Pastry Chef Dorothy Sibole to learn all she could about this fantastic dessert. The only undisputed fact she turned up is that it originated south of the border. Undaunted by the confusion, she went straight to her kitchen to make Tres Leches Cake her own. Share her findings and find your own inspiration with her traditional recipe, plus some tempting variations.

Previous
Dessert Articles

Cobblers & Buckles:
Peach Cobbler
Berry Buckles & Tarts


Peach Desserts
Hand-to-Mouth Desserts
Brownies, Smores, PB&J Bars
Hurry-Up Desserts Summer Fresh Blackberries