Dessert Recipes

My brother claimed to hate pumpkin for thirty-four years. Thirty-four years of declining pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, making faces at pumpkin spice lattes, and giving … Read more

The fall bake sale was in six hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing those picture-perfect bundt cakes with intricate glazes, the … Read more

I was standing in the middle of a fluorescent-lit grocery store aisle last October, staring at a bin of pie pumpkins, when the smell hit … Read more

The Little French Bakery on Cedar Street. It was this tiny, unassuming place tucked between a dry cleaner and a hardware store, and they made … Read more

This was supposed to be caramel corn. I had the brown sugar measured, the butter softening on the counter, and a whole plan for a … Read more

It was 11:47 PM on a random Wednesday in late September, and I had an overwhelming need to make something that tasted like autumn but … Read more

My niece, who is seven and takes her kitchen opinions very seriously, asked me why I couldn’t just crush the cookies in the bag with … Read more

My neighbor Marta asked me why I couldn’t just use a little less butter and swap in some yogurt. I was in the middle of … Read more

My sister swore she hated Halloween baking. For years. Every October, she’d watch me roll dough and pipe frosting with this look—part pity, part confusion. … Read more

My neighbor, a retired pastry chef named Mrs. Gable, watched me one October afternoon as I struggled to pipe a straight line of royal icing … Read more