Desserts & Baking

My Aunt Lorraine used to pull these little round loaves out of tin cans every time we visited her in Connecticut — I want to say it was around Thanksgiving, or maybe it was Christmas, . Memory’s funny that way. I was probably nine or ten, standing in her kitchen that always smelled like wood smoke and something sweet, watching her slide a knife around the inside of a can and just… pop this dark, dense little loaf out onto the counter like it was the most normal thing in the world. I didn’t think much of it back then. …

If you’re looking for an over-the-top dessert that’s packed with indulgent flavors and couldn’t be much easier to make, you’ve come to the right place. This Earthquake Cake is named for the way it cracks, craters, and swirls in the oven — and it’s the kind of beautiful, chaotic thing that requires zero frosting, zero decorating, and less than ten minutes to get into the pan. Can’t beat that for a dessert this good. Why You’ll Love This Recipe It’s ready in under 10 minutes of prep. Layer, mix, swirl, bake. That’s genuinely it. No frosting, no decorating. The cracks …

This Church Cake is one of those no-fuss desserts that disappears before you can even set the serving spoon down. A banana muffin base, creamy vanilla pudding and cream cheese layer, crushed pineapple, and a thick cloud of Cool Whip — all chilled together until the flavors meld into something truly special. Make it the night before and you’re basically done. Why You’ll Love It Make-ahead friendly — it actually gets better overnight in the fridge, which means one less thing to worry about Sunday morning Feeds a crowd — a full 9×13 serves 12 to 15 people easily, and …

My grandmother made rice pudding the way most grandmothers around here did — slowly, on a back burner, stirring it whenever she walked past. No recipe written down anywhere that I ever found. Just rice, milk, sugar, and whatever vanilla she had. I’ve been making some version of it since my kids were small, maybe 1998 or 1999, back when dessert had to come from what was already in the pantry. Turns out that’s not a bad constraint to cook under. This is about as stripped-down as it gets. Four ingredients, one saucepan, and twenty-some minutes of occasional stirring while …

Last summer my friend Carol had a few of us over for dinner, nothing planned, the kind of evening that just happens. After we ate she set a plate of bars on the table and I had two before I even thought to ask what was in them. She laughed when I asked for the recipe — said it was the simplest thing, barely even a recipe. I went home that night and made them that weekend. I’ve been making them ever since. Why You’ll Love It Practically no effort — one saucepan, one bowl, and the oven does the …

My neighbor Deb mentioned this at a school fundraiser — one of those Tuesday nights in a gymnasium where you’re wondering how you got talked into volunteering again. She said, “I just do a brownie in a pie dish, everybody acts like you did something.” I went home and tried it that weekend. That was probably twenty years ago, and I’ve been making it ever since. Five ingredients, one bowl, about ten minutes of actual work. It bakes up fudgy and dense with those crispy caramelized edges you only get when the chocolate gets a little dark against the dish …

My grandmother kept a fruitcake in a tin on top of her refrigerator for approximately fifteen years. I’m not exaggerating – fifteen years. She’d pull it down every Christmas, slice off a piece, soak it in brandy, and put it back. The thing was basically indestructible. When she passed away, my aunt threw it out and we all secretly breathed a sigh of relief. For years after that, I wouldn’t touch fruitcake with a ten-foot pole. Then one December, my friend Maya brought something to our cookie swap that she called fruitcake, and I politely tried to decline. She laughed …

My neighbor Sharon used to bring this dessert to every single block party, and I swear people would hover around the dessert table waiting for her to show up with it. One year she couldn’t make it, and you would’ve thought we’d cancelled the whole event based on the number of people who asked where the éclair cake was. Finally, I cornered her at the mailbox one day and basically begged for the recipe, expecting some complicated French pastry technique. She laughed and said it was literally just pudding, graham crackers, and Cool Whip layered in a pan. I didn’t …

Brookies are those genius desserts that combine the best of both worlds – chewy chocolate chip cookies on the bottom and fudgy brownies on top. If you’ve never had one, you’re missing out. And if you have had one, you know exactly what I’m talking about. They’re soft, they’re rich, and they’re the kind of thing you eat standing at the counter at 10 PM telling yourself “just one more.” But here’s where it gets even better. Take those brookies and stuff a Reese’s peanut butter cup right in the middle. Now you’ve got something that’s basically a fancy molten …

Because the Midwest needs a little sunshine too I know this sounds dramatic, but these muffins kind of saved a Tuesday for me once. It was one of those gray Midwest mornings — damp socks, nowhere to be, laundry multiplying like rabbits. I was staring at a can of crushed pineapple in the pantry and remembered this old recipe scribbled on a recipe card from a church bake sale years ago. The original was for pineapple sheet cake, but I wasn’t in the mood to fuss with frosting or slicing. So I turned it into muffins. And I swear — …