Desserts

This twist on tres leches cake can be shaken up in no time with store-bought pound cake. Caribbean milk punch is a silky, booze-forward drink studded with grated coconut—an eggless eggnog you can drink year-round without shame. This recipe is courtesy of Zeke Goodwin, a Toronto-based food stylist and pastry chef. And if you have the time, bake the marble cake, too!

On childhood trips to visit family in Mexico, I looked forward to running to the nearest corner store and digging into a cup of cold gelatina. Also known as gelatina mosaico (stained glass jelly) in Mexico and Brazil, this no-bake dessert is made from sweetened condensed and evaporated milks, and chopped Jell-O. You can set it in eight to 10 cups for a quick dessert fix, or in a Bundt pan for an easy summer stunner, as we've done here. This recipe makes a pretty firm-set cake; you can reduce the unflavoured gelatin amount by 1/4 for a wobblier one. —Chantal Braganza

This adaptation of Camilla Wynne's celebratory wedding cake skips the fondant and comes in a manageable, 8-inch size. You don’t need to wait for a wedding to make a delicious cake for the people you love, though. This is a standout dessert for any occasion such as a birthday party or even a weekend gathering. Decorate with handcrafted marzipan figures, raspberries or fresh flowers.

This casual cake makes a perfectly acceptable breakfast, too.

We use a double dose of strawberries in this impressive dessert. Freeze-dried berries give the meringue its blush-pink hue, while fresh berries add aromatic sweetness. Every batch of fresh strawberries is different so adjust the amounts of sugar and lemon juice as needed in Step 5.