Editor Picks: Best Dessert Recipes of 2012

I am a little obsessed with this icebox cake from Grace Parisi, my amazingly talented colleague. This is so unbelievably simple—it has only three ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. The only catch is that you have to wait for it to set in the refrigerator.

I think Matt Lewis, from Baked, in Brooklyn, New York, is a brilliant baker. I love everything he does and his lemon Bundt cake is no exception. This is the perfect cake. It’s super lemony and moist, with the ideal crumb and a golden brown exterior that I adore.

Around the holidays I have a weakness for chocolate and mint combinations. This cookie is exceptional: It’s crisp and has deep, rich chocolate flavor, which makes it good enough to eat plain, but the minty filling—just butter, Fluff, confectioners’ sugar and peppermint extract—is completely addictive in this sandwich cookie.

Belinda Leong, who is just about to open B. Patisserie in San Francisco, has won over just about everyone on staff with this rich, fudgy cookie. It’s probably one of the best desserts we’ve done all year.

Sometimes a simple cake like this one is just right. I love the tart, juicy blackberries and the crispy top.

Desserts that are flexible are right up my alley, and this pie encourages you use any stone fruit you want. The crunchy, buttery oat streusel on top is the kind you can’t resist picking off.

Guava? I was skeptical about these little pastries from Washington, DC, pastry chef David Guas, but they floored me. Combining guava paste and cream cheese and baking it in puff pastry turns out to be one of the smartest, fastest and most memorable desserts we did in 2012.