Cake

Get your chocolate fix with this lush torte from executive pastry chef Philippe Niez at The Mayflower Inn & Spa. It tastes so rich, you won't even want seconds!

These little gems stirred up our childhood memories of coconut-filled candy bars. We baked them in extra-large muffin cups to make them more like little individual cakes. If you choose to use regular-sized muffin cups, the recipe will yield 24 cupcakes and the cooking time will be shorter.

These crustless individual cheesecakes have a gooey, honeyed topping.

The unusual duo of honey and chocolate is a winner in this layer cake. It needs to set up overnight, so begin a day ahead.

Editor's note: This recipe is adapted from chef Paul Flynn of The Tannery in Dungarvan, Ireland. This dish is Flynn's contemporary take on a classic English dessert called Eton Mess. Traditionally, the recipe calls for whipped cream and crumbled meringues to be chilled together, then topped with fresh fruit. Flynn's twist is to freeze the meringue and cream base, making it a cooler contrast for the juicy berries. If time is short, feel free to substitute store-bought meringues rather than making them from scratch. Use eight 2-inch shells. Begin preparing this recipe one day ahead.

Editor's note: The recipe below is taken from All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House by Roland Mesnier with Christian Malard.

An homage to Denmark's sublime almond pastries, these delicate little cakes provide a nice hit of almond to complement the licorice pudding ; they're also a lovely nibble on their own with a cup of tea.

This over-the-top cake has impressive looks and moistness. Start the cherries ahead: They soak in brandy for a week and then in syrup for at least two days.

This big-deal cake can be made a day ahead.

A tisane is a tea-like aromatic infusion; this one is a lovely partner to the cheesecake.

The spices in Indian chai tea flavor this creamy cheesecake.

This moist cake keeps beautifully for a day or two after you make it.

These individual desserts are a fun, modern version of the classic pineapple upside-down cake.

Spekkuk Bumbu Editor's note: This recipe is adapted from James Oseland's book Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It was originally part of an article by Oseland on Indonesian cuisine. This butter-rich spice cake flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves is known as spekkoek (the Dutch spelling) or spekkuk. It's an inheritance from Holland's four-century rule in Indonesia. This recipe was given to me by Mami, my friend in Bandung, Indonesia, who's an expert in all things sweet. Because butter is a rare commodity in Indonesia, especially outside of big cities, many cooks often substitute margarine for it. Mami wouldn't dream of doing that. "Spekkuk is a special-occasion cake. It deserves a splurge," she says. She usually makes this cake when important guests come calling or for her berbuka puasa (literally, opening the fast) feasts during Ramadan. Essentially a pound cake baked in a tube, or bundt, pan, it has a golden, faintly crisp exterior and a shamelessly rich, velvety interior. There are few things more satisfying than eating a warm slice of spekkuk along with sweetened tea (the traditional accompaniment) or icy cold milk (my favorite accompaniment). If all of your ingredients are at room temperature, this cake is relatively easy to make—and immensely pleasurable, too. Once it starts baking, the spicy aroma will perfume not only your kitchen but also your entire home. Lapis legit (literally "layered stickiness") is a spekkuk constructed of up to 25 thin layers, each no thicker than an eighth of an inch—the more the layers, the more grand the cake. It is made by spreading thin successive layers of batter, one layer at a time, and baking each new layer until it is cooked through. A fresh layer is spread on top, and the process is repeated until all of the batter is used up. Each layer needs about five to ten minutes of baking time. Some cooks alternate plain, white, spice-less batter with the golden-brown batter containing spices for a variegated effect. Other cooks only make lapis legit with ten thicker layers, as opposed to 25. Whatever the case, though lapis legit is lovely to look at, it tastes no better than a single-layer spekkuk, as it's made with the very same batter.

A layer cake with a simple, modern look.