A. Bjorkman's Drop Shortcake
A Northern, drop-style shortcake — pie-crust mixing method, dropped onto a sheet, split open with a fork, piled with macerated berries and whipped cream.
Cheryl's Carrot Cake
A single-layer family carrot cake with toasted walnuts and plumped raisins. Cream cheese frosting optional, but recommended.
Chocolate Cheesecake with a Salted Pretzel-Cocoa Crust
Dense, dark chocolate cheesecake on a salted pretzel-cocoa crust, with a hint of bourbon and espresso in the filling that makes the chocolate taste deeper.
Cookies-and-Cream Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
An Oreo-crust cheesecake with a hidden Oreo layer running through the middle, mini chips and chocolate shavings folded into the batter, and a dulce de leche swirl on top.
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Espresso and Olive Oil
A dense, almost-truffle flourless chocolate cake with espresso to deepen the cocoa, olive oil swapped for some of the butter, and a flaky-salt and cocoa-nib top.
Grandma M.'s Crinkled Sugar Cookies
A butter-and-oil sugar cookie with crisp edges, a tender almost cake-like center, and a crinkly cinnamon-sugar top from being pressed flat with a glass jar.
Millie Keel's Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
A Keel family recipe — pecan-rolled, raspberry-jam-filled, double-baked. The cookie that's been on Christmas trays in our family for longer than I've been alive.
Orange-Almond Buttermilk Bundt with Streusel Ribbons
A tall buttermilk Bundt with three ribbons of brown-buttered, mace-and-orange almond streusel running through it like geological layers.
Pretzel-Crust Key Lime Pie with Salted Whipped Cream
A tart, creamy key lime pie on a brown-buttered pretzel-graham crust, finished with whipped cream that leans tangy instead of sweet.
Sour Cream Apple Streusel Coffee Cake with Almond-Cardamom Crumb
A tall sour cream coffee cake with diced apple folded in and two layers of brown-buttered, cardamom-laced almond streusel running through and across the top.
Rye Brown-Butter Cookies with Dark Chocolate Puddles
Rye flour, brown butter, hand-chopped dark chocolate, and a touch of molasses — the chocolate chip cookie that doesn't taste like every other internet chocolate chip cookie.
Black Pepper & Strawberry Olive Oil Cake with Whipped Crème Fraîche
A buttermilk olive oil cake with cracked black pepper, finished with macerated strawberries and whipped crème fraîche.