Tested American dessert recipes, from pies and cakes to cookies and holiday bakes. We bake each one from the chef’s real recipe and note every fix so yours works first time.
Ina Garten frozen key lime pie fills a graham cracker crust with condensed milk, egg yolks, and lime juice at about 540 calories per slice. It serves 8 from Barefoot Contessa Family Style, and takes about 35 minutes of hands-on work because the freezer does the rest. The recipe starts by beating egg yolks and …
Ina Garten bourbon chocolate pecan pie folds chocolate chips and diced pecans into a brown sugar filling with Maker’s Mark bourbon. At approximately 595 calories per slice, this Go-To Dinners recipe takes about 55 minutes since the store-bought crust cuts out all the pastry work. What sets this version apart is the brown sugar and …
Ina Garten blueberry ricotta breakfast cake folds fresh berries and whole-milk ricotta into a single-layer cake at about 420 calories per slice. From Go-To Dinners, it serves 8 and takes about 75 minutes since most of that is just the oven doing the work. Most blueberry cakes use butter and milk for moisture, but Ina …
Ina Garten Beatty’s chocolate cake uses cocoa, buttermilk, and hot coffee for a two-layer dessert at about 850 calories per slice. The recipe serves 8 from Barefoot Contessa at Home, and the whole thing takes about 2 hours since most of that is just cooling. Instead of creaming butter into the batter like most chocolate …
Ina Garten’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake is the quintessential weekend treat. Featured in her classic book Barefoot Contessa Parties! (2001), this cake manages to be incredibly dense and rich while remaining perfectly tender. It is the kind of recipe that makes a house smell like heaven while it bakes, making it the perfect centerpiece for …
Martha Stewart’s sugar cookies are classic cut-and-decorate cookies made from seven pantry staples: flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. The recipe yields 2 dozen 4-inch cookies with 45 minutes of active work plus about 2 hours of chilling. The recipe is an exact match from marthastewart.com, where her team bills it as …
Martha Stewart’s key lime pie sets a tart filling of condensed milk, egg yolks, and fresh key lime juice in a graham cracker crust. About 30 minutes of oven time, plus cooling, and you choose whipped cream or meringue on top. The recipe is an exact match from marthastewart.com, where she publishes it with both …
Martha Stewart’s chocolate cake is a one-bowl layer cake built on cocoa powder, buttermilk, and hot water, topped with her easy chocolate frosting. It takes about 1 hour 25 minutes total and serves 12 to 16. The recipe is an exact match from marthastewart.com, where her team calls it their best chocolate cake and pairs …
Martha Stewart’s cheesecake is a no-bake recipe with a graham cracker crust and a cream cheese filling made with condensed milk, lemon, and vanilla. It chills in the fridge for 2½ to 3 hours until firm, with no oven time at all. The recipe serves 8. This recipe sits on Stewart’s official site as her …
Martha Stewart’s banana bread is a dense, moist loaf made with very ripe bananas, sour cream, butter, and chopped walnuts or pecans. It bakes at 180°C (350°F) for about 1 hour 10 minutes in a 23×13 cm (9×5 in) loaf tin. The recipe makes one loaf that serves 8. This recipe first appeared in Stewart’s …