Recipe Archive

Desserts

Desserts bring structure to sweetness, from cakes and custards to frozen treats and fruit-driven finishes that close the meal with intention.

1329 recipes

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Recipes

Cassata Gelata

Chef Graziella

Cassata Gelata

Sicily's frozen treasure, where sheep's milk ricotta becomes ice cream studded with jewels of candied fruit and pistachios, embraced by tender sponge cake. Baroque simplicity, if such a thing exists.

Cassata Siciliana

Chef Graziella

Cassata Siciliana

The great Easter cake of Sicily, where Arab confectionery traditions meet convent perfection. Sheep's milk ricotta, almond paste, and candied citrus beneath a crown of jeweled fruits.

Cast-Iron Blackberry Peach Cobbler

Chef Dean

Cast-Iron Blackberry Peach Cobbler

Summer's finest stone fruits and wild berries bubble beneath shaggy buttermilk biscuits in a screaming-hot cast iron skillet, the edges caramelized where fruit meets iron, demanding nothing more than cold cream poured from a pitcher.

Castagnaccio Toscano

Chef Graziella

Castagnaccio Toscano

The austere chestnut cake of the Tuscan mountains, where poverty created genius and a single flour, water, and olive oil became something extraordinary without a grain of sugar.

Castella (カステラ, Kasutera)

Chef Takumi

Castella (カステラ, Kasutera)

Castella asks for no butter, no decoration, and no bravery: only warm eggs beaten patiently, a careful bake, and one night of rest so the crumb turns moist and fine.

Catemaco Fruit Sorbets (Nieves de Frutas)

Chef Lupita

Catemaco Fruit Sorbets (Nieves de Frutas)

Veracruz's lake-town nieves, churned in a garrafa with ice and salt, built from limón criollo, mango, coco fresco rallado, and whatever Los Tuxtlas puts in the market that morning.

Chamacuero Costeño Afromestizo

Chef Lupita

Chamacuero Costeño Afromestizo

Guerrero's Costa Chica chamacuero is a firm coconut milk caramel from Cuajinicuilapa, cooked with piloncillo, panela, and canela until the spoon leaves a path in the pot.

Champola de Guanábana Yucateca

Chef Lupita

Champola de Guanábana Yucateca

Mérida's signature cold drink from Sorbetería Colón: a generous scoop of guanábana sorbete drowned in very cold whole milk and stirred at the table until the glass turns thick, white, and creamy.

Chancaquilla Potosina de Pepita y Piloncillo

Chef Lupita

Chancaquilla Potosina de Pepita y Piloncillo

San Luis Potosí's market candy, toasted pepita locked in dark piloncillo syrup, cut into rectangles for holidays, feria tables, and the kilo sales at Mercado Hidalgo.

Charamuscas Guanajuatenses (Momias de Piloncillo)

Chef Lupita

Charamuscas Guanajuatenses (Momias de Piloncillo)

Guanajuato's market candy of piloncillo cooked to hard crack, pulled by hand until satin, then shaped into mummies, Quijotes, and skulls for feria tables and callejones.

Cherry Cobbler

Chef Dean

Cherry Cobbler

Juicy sweet-tart cherries bubble beneath rustic drop biscuits with a shatteringly crisp sugar crust. This is summer in a baking dish, the kind of honest American dessert that requires only a spoon and good company.

Chestnut Yōkan (栗羊羹, Kuri Yōkan)

Chef Takumi

Chestnut Yōkan (栗羊羹, Kuri Yōkan)

Autumn's grand yōkan is simpler than it looks: smooth anko, properly boiled kanten, and whole sweet chestnuts held in a firm jelly that slices cleanly.

Chiapas Crystallized Fruits (Frutas Cristalizadas)

Chef Lupita

Chiapas Crystallized Fruits (Frutas Cristalizadas)

Los Altos de Chiapas preserves fruit the patient way: cal-firmed papaya, calabaza, duraznos, and ciruelas cooked and rested in syrup until each piece shines like market candy.

Chichi Dango (Hawaiʻi Local Mochiko Candy for Girls' Day)

Chef Makoa

Chichi Dango (Hawaiʻi Local Mochiko Candy for Girls' Day)

Soft squares of Hawaiʻi Local chichi dango, pale pink and white from the mochi-shop counter, baked with mochiko, milk, and coconut milk, then dusted until every sticky edge turns friendly.

Chiffon Cake (シフォンケーキ)

Chef Takumi

Chiffon Cake (シフォンケーキ)

A good chiffon cake is all lightness, but it isn't fragile if you treat the egg whites kindly and cool the pan upside down.

Chilacayote en Dulce de Michoacán

Chef Lupita

Chilacayote en Dulce de Michoacán

Michoacán's huerto sweet, firmed with cal, then cooked slowly in piloncillo, canela, and clavo until the pale squash turns amber and the syrup tastes like winter stores.

Chilled Red Bean Yōkan (水羊羹, Mizu Yōkan)

Chef Takumi

Chilled Red Bean Yōkan (水羊羹, Mizu Yōkan)

Mizu yōkan is summer yōkan: cool, smooth, and barely set. More water and less kanten make it tender enough to cut cleanly and eat chilled from a small dish.

Chimaki (粽)

Chef Takumi

Chimaki (粽)

Chimaki looks ceremonial because the leaves do their work in silence: they shape the rice, scent it lightly, and turn a plain dumpling into May 5 food.

Chimbo de Chiapa de Corzo

Chef Lupita

Chimbo de Chiapa de Corzo

Chiapas's soaked marquesote cake from Chiapa de Corzo, firm egg sponge drenched in piloncillo syrup scented with Mexican cinnamon, clove, and star anise.

Chios Nerantzi Glyko Koutaliou (Νεράντζι Γλυκό Κουταλιού)

Chef Dimitra

Chios Nerantzi Glyko Koutaliou (Νεράντζι Γλυκό Κουταλιού)

Chios bitter orange peel rolled into tight coils, blanched through clean waters, then preserved in a clear fragrant syrup for the spoon-sweet tray.

Chios Ypovrychio Vanilia (Υποβρύχιο Βανίλια Χιώτικο)

Chef Dimitra

Chios Ypovrychio Vanilia (Υποβρύχιο Βανίλια Χιώτικο)

Chios gives vanilla submarine its mastic breath: a pearly spoon sweet stirred stiff, served cold in water, and offered as the simplest kerasma.

Chipolatapudding

Chef Joost

Chipolatapudding

Despite the name, no sausage comes near it: chipolatapudding is the Dutch Sunday-best pudding, pale cream set around jewels of fruit, almond biscuits, and a little old-fashioned liqueur.

Chocoladeletter (Dutch Chocolate Letter)

Chef Joost

Chocoladeletter (Dutch Chocolate Letter)

One initial per child, hidden in a shoe or set beside speculaas: the Dutch chocolate letter turns cacao, tempering, and Sinterklaas mischief into the most personal December sweet.

Chocoladevla

Chef Joost

Chocoladevla

Vanillevla's darker sibling, a simple Dutch cocoa custard poured cold into bowls or glasses, with the half-and-half swirl every child learns before table manners get serious.

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