Think outside the pumpkin pie this year as you plan the sweet side of your Thanksgiving feast: Guests will delight in any of our seasonal desserts, from sweet potato cake with marshmallow meringue icing, praline sauce, and candied pecans, to pears poached in spiced port wine, to a simple but elegant maple pot de crème.
Cajeta, a homemade caramel used in traditional Mexican desserts, is a terrific sauce to have on hand for drizzling over ice cream or baked treats. Get the recipe for Crepes Cajeta »
Like many traditional Emirati desserts, luscious pumpkin porridge (in Arabic it’s a halvah, or sweet food) straddles the line between sweet and savory. The dish thickens as it cools, so be sure to serve it while it’s still quite warm.
The dessert’s delicate texture is achieved by cooking the cheesecake in a bain-marie, a water bath made by surrounding the springform pan with boiling water. Both the desserts need to be made at least a day before serving, and the ice cream can be made up to a week before serving.To save yourself more time on Thanksgiving day, you can also make the soup and the chutney up to two days ahead. Get the recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap and Hazelnut Crust »
The silky, custardlike base of this autumnal pie is made from sweetened navy bean purée spiced with nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon. Get the recipe for Navy Bean Pie »
Roasted pears stuffed with almonds, currants, and raisins make a simple yet elegant dessert.
Shredded carrots turn soft and sweet in this cardamom-spiced rice pudding.
This recipe, from Fore Street restaurant in Portland, Maine, calls for using six 4″ steel blini pans. But you can make a single cake in an 8″ cast-iron skillet, if you prefer. If fresh or frozen cranberries aren’t available, use reconstituted dried berries. Get the recipe for Apple and Cranberry Upside-Down Cakes »
There’s nothing like homemade rice pudding—creamy, sweet, and comforting. The brown sugar lends a caramel-like sweetness, while cinnamon and rum-soaked raisins add warmth and depth. Get the recipe for Cinnamon Rice Pudding »
This variation on a classic French pound cake, in which ingredient quantities are determined by relative weight, uses olive oil instead of butter for a light, fresh flavor. The recipe was developed by SAVEUR contributor Nancy Harmon Jenkins, who recommends using a Polder Kitchen Scale for accurate measure.
This twist on traditional pecan pie provides a snack-able ending to the holiday feast. This recipe first appeared in our November 2012 issue along with Ben Mims’s story Sugar and Spice. Get the recipe for Pecan Pie Brittle »
In this version of the classic English dessert, adapted from one in Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Rose’s Heavenly Cakes (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), dates are soaked in stout beer and then pureed, resulting in a super-moist crumb.
