Spectacular Holiday Desserts for Special Occasions

Creamy coconut custard peeks out from between layers of pomegranate gelatin, store-bought ladyfingers, and billows of whipped cream in this modern update of a holiday trifle.

Oh, Christmas tree! Your frosty meringue boughs give way to a luscious center of peppermint and chocolate ice creams. Get ready to become the most popular person at the party when you bring this spectacular dessert out after dinner.

Rum and nutmeg bring the essence of eggnog to the ice cream-like filling between delicate layers of chocolate genoise cake.

Snowy swirls of meringue form a dazzling wreath decorated with pomegranate and sparkly sugared cranberries.

Martha modernized her bûche de Noël with an elaborate upright tree stump boasting hand-sculpted chocolate bark, meringue mushrooms, and pistachio "moss."

This showstopping cake doesn't require any baking! You can make the crepes in advance before you stack them with alternating layers of raspberry-white chocolate and Nutella mousses.

Inspired by traditional English Christmas puddings, this rich, kirsch-spiked masterpiece is studded with dried cranberries and crowned with homemade cranberry compote.

Silky-smooth cheesecake fragrant with vanilla bean goes over the top with a crunchy brûléed topping and an elaborate nest of spun caramel.

A towering tree of blushing pink cream puffs filled with strawberry buttercream is decked with macarons and meringue drops. This is a dessert for the ages!

In this elegant iteration of a bûche de Noël, espresso-soaked sponge cake is bundled up with fluffy caramel filling and frosted in snowy swirls of toasted meringue.

You don't need to be an artist to elicit oohs and aahs with your baked creations. This pie-for-a-crowd is takes some time but is super simple to make and decorate.

Sometimes, chocolate is the answer. Rich and silky chocolate Bavarian cream is lavishly layered inside a ring of rum-soaked cocoa ladyfingers.