Party Dessert Recipes

Once chilled, this cake can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to three days. In fact, it actually tastes best after being chilled overnight. Let it stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving. Adapted from"Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook."

Use this pate a choux recipe to make mouthwatering pastries such as profiteroles, cream puffs, and eclairs.

Cake, cream, and berries combine in a treat that's twice as delectable as the sum of its parts. The buttery cake soaks up the strawberry juices, while the whipped cream adds an airy richness.

Pull a fast one on the kids: In just 10 minutes, whip up the dough for these sweet, crunchy treats made with whole-wheat flour. Many recipes for baked goods can be tweaked to use equal parts whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, without losing flavor or texture.

Want to learn how to make macarons? We've taken the guesswork out of making these patisserie beauties, so you can prepare them at home. Our foolproof macarons recipe calls for making your own almond flour (it's so much easier than it seems), then adding just four other ingredients: powdered sugar, egg whites, white sugar, and any filling you please.

This burnished beauty gets its flavor from fresh lemon zest, and its stature from not-too-sweet meringue. (More than half of the sugar gets boiled into a syrup that you beat into egg whites—the result is cool, thick, and silky.) Dollop tons on top for a dramatic presentation, and if you don't have a kitchen torch, brown the peaks with a quick blast under the broiler.

We skipped the cream on top to let the tropical custard filling be the star.

These tart treats go perfectly with Lemon Crepes and make beautiful garnishes for our Meyer-Lemon and Coconut Layer Cake.

Make these delicious treats ahead of time and serve these sticky, sweet buns for breakfast or brunch.

Make this glaze while the Cinnamon-Bun Bites are baking. Recipe adapted with permission from "Williams-Sonoma Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen," copyright 2009 by Maria Helm Sinskey and Williams-Sonoma, published by Weldon Owen, San Francisco.

Fresh strawberries go in the batter and the pretty pink frosting for these crowd-pleasing cupcakes. Save the smallest ones for the garnish.

These decadent bars are inspired by Hello Dollies, a popular Southern dessert.

These blueberry cupcakes are breakfast for dessert. Fresh blueberries are mixed into vanilla cake -- rather than muffin -- batter, which is then topped with cinnamon streusel and swirls of blueberry-cream cheese icing. This recipe appeared in episode 308 of Martha Bakes.

Buttery classic, sugar cookies make a delicious treat anytime. Here, Martha heightens them to special-occasion status with a simple glaze and a fanciful combination of candied flowers, crystallized ginger, and chopped pistachios.

Chock-full of chocolate and raisins, these oatmeal cookies won't disappoint. And by using oats in place of wheat flour, everyone can get in on the fun.

Whole lemons are the base of this rich, citrusy simple lemon cake batter. Precooking the fruit removes the pucker and makes for an intensely flavored cake that's a family-friendly dessert.

This easy all-purpose yellow cake takes just a bit longer to make than one from a packaged mix, but it's worth it.

Lemons bars meet Key lime pie in this luscious hybrid dessert. Sweetened condensed milk is brightened up with lemon juice for the creamy filling, and the press-in saltine crust couldn't be easier to put together.

A picture of salty-sweet perfection, brittle is surprisingly easy to make. Serve it alongside coffee or tea for dessert, and save any leftovers for snacking. Peanuts make a classic brittle, but you can substitute cashews or almonds instead.

Blueberry muffins are a breakfast staple in most homes. This recipe from "Martha's Entertaining" features two options to finish: make a crumb topping, or sprinkle granulated sugar and freshly grated mace over the batter just before baking.

Serve these raspberry scones at breakfast or with tea for an afternoon snack.

For best results, bake these cakes at least a day before serving. Store, wrapped in plastic, for up to three days at room temperature, or freeze for up to three months.

These crumbly cookies are spicy, chocolaty treats the whole family will love.