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  1. Home
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  3. Make-Ahead Desserts

Make-Ahead Desserts

By Food & Wine Updated May 10, 2017
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Ricotta Ice Cream with Honey and Almonds
From frozen crème caramel to hazelnut-brown-butter brownies, these decadent desserts can all be made ahead of time.
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Billionaire's Shortbread

Billionaire's Shortbread
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To add her spin to the popular British confection known as Millionaire's Shortbread, pastry chef Jennifer Yee sprinkles the chocolate with flaky sea salt, and then encourages bakers to add other toppings, like crushed pretzels, candied ginger and toasted nuts.

  • More Dessert Bar Recipes

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Rice Pudding with Butternut Squash and Sweet Milk Tea

Rice Pudding with Butternut Squash and Sweet Milk Tea
Credit: © Fredrika Stjärne
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Inspired by the not-too-sweet rice puddings of India, Hugh Acheson keeps the sugar to a minimum in this version made with rice grits (broken grains of rice). In a nod to the South's favorite drink, he tops the pudding with sweetened milk that's been flavored with tea and spices. The most unexpected ingredient: butternut squash. "I think it can work really well in dessert," he says.

  • Amazing Gluten-Free Recipes

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Frozen Crème Caramel

Frozen Creme Caramel
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To make her crème caramel more refreshing, chef Amanda Hallowell serves it partially frozen, like a semifreddo.

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Milk-Chocolate-Frosted Layer Cake

Milk Chocolate Frosted Layer Cake
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This cake from pastry chef Karina Gowing is perfection for anyone who loves frosting. The ultracreamy icing, which is almost like a milk-chocolate ganache, gets spread liberally over layers of light, delicate, cocoa-flavored cake.

  • More Layer Cake Recipes

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Butterscotch-Glazed Coffee Shortbread Bars

Butterscotch-Glazed Coffee Shortbread Bars
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Flo Braker flavors her ethereally light shortbread with finely ground espresso beans. The best part is the golden, gooey butterscotch glaze, which becomes deliciously fudgy as the bars sit in the cookie jar.

  • More Incredible Dessert Bars

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Coconut Cake

Coconut Cake
Credit: Food & Wine
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Coconut cake, a dainty dessert, was in vogue in the 1920s for ladies' gatherings. Traditionally made with marshmallow frosting, the cake was famously served to President Truman during a trip to Florida in the 1950s.

  • More Beautiful Dessert Recipes

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Deep Dark Chocolate Coconut Cake

Deep Dark Chocolate Coconut Cake
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Feeling blue? Have a slice of this cake. The chocolate and yogurt it's made with can supposedly boost levels of the feel-good brain chemical tyrosine.

  • Amazing Cake Recipes

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Double-Ginger Sugar Cookies

201204-HD-double-ginger-sugar-cookies.jpg
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Grace Parisi opts for baking soda instead of baking powder to create delectable holiday sugar cookies that are especially crispy.

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Apple Crisp with Granola Topping

Apple Crisp with Granola Topping
Credit: © Pernille Pedersen
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This easy apple recipe can be stored overnight at room temperature and reheated before serving.

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Creamy Caramel Pudding

Creamy Caramel Pudding
Credit: © John Kernick
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This decadent-seeming pudding is low in fat and a good source of calcium.

  • More Healthy Desserts

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Butter Cookies with Clove Sugar

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Chef Semsa Denizsel’s crumbly cookies are lightly flavored with the ground cloves she mixes into the confectioners’ sugar coating. Clarified butter in the cookies makes them extracrisp.

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Apple Cider Cream Pie

Apple Cider Cream Pie
Credit: © Dana Gallagher
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This is a delicious marriage of two classics: apple pie and cream pie. After cooking down tart apple cider, it's made into a custard and baked into a crispy pie shell. The pie gets a topping of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

  • Beautiful Desserts

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Nana Betty's Chocolate-Pecan Cookies

Nana Betty's Chocolate-Pecan Cookies
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Melissa Rubel's grandmother's flourless cookies are crisp around the edges and chewy on the inside.

  • More Chocolate Cookies

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Ginger Sandwich Cookies

Ginger Sandwich Cookies
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Nick Malgieri adds a puckery note to his gingersnap cookies by sandwiching them with a fresh lemon cream.

  • More Cookie Recipes

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Fried Semolina Dumplings with Apricots and Apricot Preserves

Fried Semolina Dumplings with Apricots and Apricot Preserves
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These griesschnitte (fried semolina dumplings) are moist and not too sweet, a perfect end to a meal. This recipe, from chef Roman Albrecht, is made with margarine and soy milk.

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Dark Chocolate Bark with Roasted Almonds and Seeds

Dark-Chocolate Bark with Roasted Almonds and Seeds. Photo © John Kernick
Credit: © John Kernick
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"I'm more addicted to chocolate than I am to sugar," says chocolatier Jacques Torres. A small piece of this super-chunky dark-chocolate bark staves off his intense cravings.

  • Fantastic Healthy Desserts

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Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake

Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake
Credit: © Con Poulos
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This is one of the best upside-down cakes ever—the maple syrup infuses both the apples and the cake, making the dessert taste like a stack of apple pancakes.

  • Cooking with Maple Syrup

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Cranberry Panna Cotta

Cranberry Panna Cotta
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This elegant, low-fat panna cotta requires only five ingredients: cranberries, sugar, gelatin, water and buttermilk (instead of the usual cream).

  • More Low-Fat Recipes

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Anise Tuiles

Anise Tuiles
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Pastry chef Dahlia Narvaez pairs the delicate anise-scented tuiles with her lush honey-sweetened mascarpone.

  • More Cookie Recipes

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Hazelnut-Brown-Butter Brownies

Hazelnut-Brown-Butter Brownies
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"In Japan I got into all different flours, like roasted soy flour," says Stella Parks. "Then I thought, Why not use nut flour to make gluten-free brownies."

  • More Gluten-Free Desserts

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Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies

Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies
Credit: Recipes and images excerpted with permission from
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Adding cranberries and rolled oats to buttery chocolate chip cookie dough makes the cookies crunchier and more substantial.

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Double-Chocolate Pudding

Double-Chocolate Pudding.
Credit: © Tina Rupp
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This recipe from the late, great cookbook author Richard Sax has everything one could ask for in a chocolate pudding—an intense flavor and a silky texture that’s still firm enough to stand a spoon in. For the best possible pudding, use top-quality cocoa powder and chocolate.

  • Quick Chocolate Desserts

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Take 5 Carrot Cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes
Credit: © QUENTIN BACON
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Chef Bryan Vietmeier suggests freezing the cupcakes before frosting to firm them up, preventing crumbs.

  • Cupcake Recipes

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Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie

Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie
Credit: © Dana Gallagher
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This silky pie is made by layering chocolate custard, fresh bananas and vanilla custard into a buttery pie crust.

  • More Pies and Tarts

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Torrone Semifreddo

Torrone Semifreddo
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Torrone is an Italian nougat made with honey, egg whites, sugar and nuts. It can be soft and chewy or hard and crunchy. The recipe here calls for folding crunchy store-bought nougat into whipped cream and honey, then freezing the mixture. What emerges is an utterly delicious, wonderfully simple ice cream–like dessert.

  • More Delicious Italian Desserts

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Mango-Basil Vacherin

Mango-Basil Vacherin. Photo © Kate Mathis
Credit: © Kate Mathis
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Yigit Pura perfected this crisp-creamy French dessert while working at restaurant Daniel in New York City. His updated version combines little lime meringue kisses with basil ice cream and sweet mango sorbet.

  • More Incredible Mango Recipes

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Bacon-Bourbon Brownies with Pecans

Bacon-Bourbon Brownies with Pecans
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Kat Kinsman tops her rich brownies with bacon and pecans. To enhance the smoky flavor, she mixes some of the bacon fat into the batter.

  • Baking with Spirits

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Petits Pots à l’Absinthe

Petits Pots à l’Absinthe
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Absinthe adds a subtle anise flavor to these puddings, which are delicious with berries.

  • More Intoxicating Desserts

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Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries

Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries
Credit: Quentin Bacon
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Many versions of this dessert, made by soaking sponge cake in condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream, are too sweet and wet. This one from chef Soledad Correa is perfect, with just a hint of cinnamon.

  • Fantastic Strawberry Recipes

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Hibiscus-Berry Gelatins

Hibiscus-Berry Gelatins. Photo © Con Poulos
Credit: © Con Poulos
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A lovely way to serve raspberries, blackberries and blueberries: suspended in a hibiscus gelatin.

  • Healthy Summer Fruit

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Free-Form Blueberry Tart

Free-Form Blueberry Tart
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Jeremy Sewall adds a little candied ginger to the tart's crust for a hint of spice; feel free to add more or omit it altogether.

  • More Fruit Dessert Recipes

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Rhubarb-Cheese Strudel with Vanilla Sauce

Rhubarb-Cheese Strudel with Vanilla Sauce
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Strudel is a classic Austrian pastry made by wrapping layers of paper-thin dough around a variety of fillings. This simplified version, made with store-bought phyllo dough, features a cheesecake-like mixture and tangy rhubarb compote. A crème anglaise served alongside makes it extra-decadent.

  • Easy Dessert Recipes

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Ice Cream Bonbons

Ice Cream Bonbons. Photo © Tina Rupp
Credit: © Tina Rupp
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These ice cream bonbons have a silky chocolate shell and flaky sea salt on top.

  • More Frozen Desserts

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Ginger and Pear Upside-Down Cake

Ginger and Pear Upside-Down Cake
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This beautiful upside-down cake can be refrigerated for up to two days after baking.

  • More Brunch Ideas

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Ricotta Ice Cream with Honey and Almonds

Ricotta Ice Cream with Honey and Almonds
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For an unusual but exceptionally easy dessert, soften a pint of vanilla ice cream, mix it with ricotta and honey, and then refreeze it. You'll want to use a premium brand of ice cream, since the quality of each ingredient is very apparent in this simple dessert.

  • Ice Cream Sundaes

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    1 of 35 Billionaire's Shortbread
    2 of 35 Rice Pudding with Butternut Squash and Sweet Milk Tea
    3 of 35 Frozen Crème Caramel
    4 of 35 Milk-Chocolate-Frosted Layer Cake
    5 of 35 Butterscotch-Glazed Coffee Shortbread Bars
    6 of 35 Coconut Cake
    7 of 35 Deep Dark Chocolate Coconut Cake
    8 of 35 Double-Ginger Sugar Cookies
    9 of 35 Apple Crisp with Granola Topping
    10 of 35 Creamy Caramel Pudding
    11 of 35 Butter Cookies with Clove Sugar
    12 of 35 Apple Cider Cream Pie
    13 of 35 Nana Betty's Chocolate-Pecan Cookies
    14 of 35 Ginger Sandwich Cookies
    15 of 35 Fried Semolina Dumplings with Apricots and Apricot Preserves
    16 of 35 Dark Chocolate Bark with Roasted Almonds and Seeds
    17 of 35 Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake
    18 of 35 Cranberry Panna Cotta
    19 of 35 Anise Tuiles
    20 of 35 Hazelnut-Brown-Butter Brownies
    21 of 35 Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies
    22 of 35 Double-Chocolate Pudding
    23 of 35 Take 5 Carrot Cupcakes
    24 of 35 Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie
    25 of 35 Torrone Semifreddo
    26 of 35 Mango-Basil Vacherin
    27 of 35 Bacon-Bourbon Brownies with Pecans
    28 of 35 Petits Pots à l’Absinthe
    29 of 35 Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries
    30 of 35 Hibiscus-Berry Gelatins
    31 of 35 Free-Form Blueberry Tart
    32 of 35 Rhubarb-Cheese Strudel with Vanilla Sauce
    33 of 35 Ice Cream Bonbons
    34 of 35 Ginger and Pear Upside-Down Cake
    35 of 35 Ricotta Ice Cream with Honey and Almonds

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