Dessert

Put the evening over the top by setting out these easy, impressive caramels after dessert. Or set out wax-paper bags so friends can take them home for the next day.

These old-fashioned marshmallows look beautiful in apothecary jars. Find one at a flea market, Williams-Sonoma, or on etsy.com/>.

Consider this sweet and crunchy dessert a free-form fruit crisp. Be warned: The nutty oat topping is addictive.

Peggy Loftus, a contributor to Food52, devised these stellar custards.

It may look like a giant lunch-box treat, but an ultra-smooth ganache and a final flourish of crunchy sea salt make this one elegant cake.

For this granita, sweet honeydew melon is flecked with floral pink peppercorns and mint. Remember: One of the great things about making granita is that no ice cream maker is needed.

From the Kookerists at Bake at 350 comes delightfully daffy dude food: the fried-chicken cookie

It's this Buttermilk Cake with Sour Milk Jam and Gin-Poached Cherries, from Alma, the Best New Restaurant in America

Lime zest is a fresh addition to macaroons, and a Microplane is our zesting tool of choice. If you can’t find unsweetened coconut chips, use two 7-oz. bags of sweetened shredded coconut and reduce the sugar to 1 Tbsp.

This complexly flavored pudding owes its smooth texture to a quick spin in the blender.

The late Richard Sax, celebrated cookbook author and champion of home cooks the world over, inspired this flourless chocolate cake—a riff on his iconic chocolate cloud cake.

This simple, moist banana bread recipe can also be baked in three small (5¾x3¼”) loaf pans, which is how you’ll find them at Julia’s stand; cooking time will be 40–50 minutes. For the deepest flavor, use ripe bananas with lots of freckles.

Using frozen berries in desserts is a clever way to add flavor and vibrant color in colder months. Choose a mild honey, such as clover or orange blossom, to let the fruits shine.

Parchment paper is a lifesaver when making this rustic tart. Use it when rolling out the tender, delicate crust (it’ll keep it from sticking), then use it to fold over the edges of the galette.

A twist on bananas Foster, this parfait is made with rye instead of rum and finished with caramelized-maple pecans. The parfaits can be made ahead and look great layered in freezer-proof rocks glasses or mason jars.

A swirl of orange marmalade adds a welcome bittersweet note to vanilla ice cream.

Scoring the plums helps the poaching liquid infuse the fruit all the way to the pit.

There's nothing, um, vanilla about our homemade version of the classic. Of course, it also makes a great base for your favorite flavor upgrades. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

Part of what gives this cake its light texture is beating the butter and sugar well, so don't rush this step.

This recipe calls for baking one giant cookie, a way to ensure even, consistent ice cream sandwiches.

Once in a while in the Test Kitchen, there’s a dish that we can’t get enough of. This simple, layered dessert is so good, we fought over the last bite.

You may get six or eight soufflés out of this recipe. Older eggs will create more voluminous whipped whites, meaning more batter. Dry days (as opposed to humid weather) will help make the meringue loftier, too.

This is one of those sleeper recipes that’s more complex-tasting than it sounds. Each element is supereasy to prepare and can be made days in advance, but the finished dessert is a stunner.