If you want simple, we have those dessert recipes, too. This round-up is about our most over-the-top, fantastical, outrageous, decadent desserts! Some of them are for expert bakers and take attention to detail. Others are easier and only require basic baking and cooking skills (like our trifles and Eton Mess!). All 20 of them are incredibly delicious and will elicit audible Oooohs and Ahhhhs.
Souche de Noël – a Twist on Bûche de Noël
Stump or log, the trompe l’oeil is always fun and you get to push the visual pun even further with Meringue Mushrooms. This year I decided to turn a cake on its end, literally, which is how our Souche de Noël, or holiday “stump”, was born. Chocolate cake, espresso buttercream and chocolate ganache all rolled up and presented as a slice of the forest. Get the recipe.
Towering Fruit Pavlova
This statuesque dessert is best for a fancy party. Discs of crisp meringue are layered with a variety of fruit and softly whip cream. It is a bit messy to serve and doesn’t exactly look neat on the plate, but no one ever complains because it is absolutely delectable for the eyes and the palate. Get the recipe for Towering Fruit Pavlova.
Eton Mess
This well-known and be loved English dessert is a combination of meringue, sweet and strawberries and whipped cream. Simple and sublime. Get the recipe for Eton Mess.
Baked Alaska
This Baked Alaska is for a holiday or special occasion-sized crowd at home, as it serves 24 people. Cake, ice cream, sorbet and billows of toasted meringue. It’s do-ahead, too! .Get the recipe.
Salted Caramel Banana Cake
MMMMmmmm. Do you love bananas? Does Salted Caramel ring your bells? Do you have a sweet tooth? Our Salted Caramel Banana Cake is for you! And you, and you, and you. Every person we have served this to has raved. I mean, just look at it! Get the recipe.
Cranberry Raspberry Cheesecake Trifle
We think our Cranberry Raspberry Cheesecake Trifle just might become your go-to winter holiday dessert. Trifles are fantastic desserts for large parties – they feed a crowd and can be assembled ahead. Components can even be made further ahead. Win-win ! Get the recipe.
Red Velvet Cake with Sugared Cranberries
TA DA! This was one of those recipes that was formed in my mind first and that I had to bring to life. I had the image of a white frosted cake with sugared cranberries on top. And then your huge, positive response to our other Red Velvet Cake inspired me to re-purpose it and voila – our White Chocolate Red Velvet Cake with Sugared Cranberries was born. Get the recipe.
Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Cake
Three ingredients – chocolate, butter and eggs – and then gild the lily with fresh raspberries and a Chocolate Ganache Glaze. Get the recipe.
Lemon Meringue Cake
We love a lemon meringue pie; we love lemon curd in crisp, white meringue nests and nestled into buttery, cookie crusts as a tart– and we are crazy about this Lemon Meringue Cake. Get the recipe.
Frozen Peppermint Bûche de Noël
A tender cocoa cake rolled around peppermint ice cream, slathered with meringue frosting, browned with a torch, and served frozen with warm chocolate sauce. It doesn’t get any better than that. Get the recipe.
Strawberry Coconut Meringue Cake
This pretty, summery Strawberry Coconut Meringue Cake was created for a special guest. I love it for so many reasons – it is absolutely gorgeous to view, fantastically delicious to eat and is a perfect example of how dairy-free food can be delectable. Get the recipe.
Chocolate Raspberry Bûche de Noël
The Bûche de Noël, or Yule log, is a classic French Christmastime dessert. It looks like a log, but it is really a jelly-roll style cake. This Chocolate Raspberry Bûche de Noël version is a yellow sponge cake rolled around whipped dark chocolate ganache filling speckled with fresh raspberries and finished off with a classic dark chocolate ganache, smoothed on the outside to resemble bark. Get the recipe.
Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
In late spring and early summer we cannot get enough rhubarb – and we KNOW you are going to love this photo-worthy Rhubarb Upside Down Cake. Get the recipe.
Chocolate Pavlova
Classic Pavlova is an egg white concoction. A sweet crisp and chewy meringue served with fruit and whipped cream. We have a few other versions, too, but this one has chocolate marbled into the meringue for a stunning visual effect as well as a delicious result. Get the Chocolate Pavolva recipe.
Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Bundt Cake
We love recipes that marble flavors together, and this Bundt cake which features visually striking broad-stroke swirls of pumpkin and chocolate cake is even more delicious than it looks. Topped off with a chocolate glaze, too. Get the recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Chocolate cake, with cherries, and chocolate whipped cream! Get the recipe.
White Chocolate Bûche de Noël
Our White Chocolate Bûche de Noël features a yellow sponge cake, rolled around a cranberry and Swiss Meringue Buttercream filling, with a buttercream exterior and white chocolate“bark”. Confectioners’ sugar dusted on top looks like snow. All gluten-free and lactose-free. Get the recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Bûche de Noël
This sponge cake roll is brushed with a whiskey syrup, filled with a chestnut buttercream and the exterior sports a coating of chocolate buttercream. Get the recipe.
Red, White & Blue Trifle
Our Red, White & Blue Trifle combines our Angel Food Cake, strawberries and blueberries with a whipped yogurt cream for a fabulous party dessert. Perfect for 4th of July, Memorial Weekend or anytime you are looking for a pretty berry dessert. This trifle celebrates summer fruit! The angel food cake is sweet, and we think the yogurt cream tempers the sweetness perfectly. Get the recipe.
Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake
Our Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake is a big, important cake, perfect for significant milestone birthdays and other celebratory events. Many of the components—the chocolate cake, the espresso buttercream, the dark chocolate ganache and the Coffee Liqueur – can be made ahead. This cake elicits “ooohhhs and aahhhs” and once guests taste it, they will be clamoring for the recipe. Get the recipe.
Holiday Recipes That Won’t Make You Bloat
These are our very best Thanksgiving & Christmas Tummy Friendly Main Dishes, from turkey to ham, roast beef to something a little different like duck, or a simple roast chicken. And we have vegetarian and vegan options, along with some hearty pastas for those that like those additions on the table. Read: Thanksgiving & Christmas Low FODMAP Main Dishes.
Holiday Appetizers For Everyone! Even For Delicate Digestions!
Appetizers! Perhaps not an everyday thing, but around the holidays we love to have a spread of little nibbles. These are our very best Thanksgiving & Christmas Low FODMAP & Gluten Free Appetizers and hors d’oeuvres from simple, to sublime, easy to elegant. You will find what you are looking for whether you need a dish to take to a party, something for a buffet, or a plated appetizer. Read: Low FODMAP & Gluten Free Holiday Appetizers.
Cocktails & Mocktails!
These are our favorite Thanksgiving & Christmas Low FODMAP Drinks, from spirited cocktails, to no-alcohol mocktails, eggnogs, mulled wine, punches, mimosas, spritzers, champagne drinks, hot cocoa, hot chocolate and more. Read: Thanksgiving & Christmas Low FODMAP Cocktails, Mocktails & More.
