Pecan

While this cake tastes delicious on its own, enhance it with dollops of whipped cream or nondairy topping and a few orange segments.

This cool indulgence is actually made with light cream cheese and low-fat sour cream. Begin preparing it the day before your party.

Pumpkin is one of those tastes you either love or hate, so there is no point in half-measures. Its earthy flavor should not be overwhelmed by molasses or too much spice, particularly mace. If you’re a pumpkin lover, when you bite into a piece of pumpkin pie, you want to taste pumpkin. In this recipe, I cook the pumpkin and spices before baking, which makes for a more mellow and pleasing flavor. Puréeing the pumpkin in a food processor produces an unusually silky texture. The crunchy bottom crust is the result of creating a layer of gingersnaps and ground pecans to absorb any excess liquid from the filling, and also of baking the pie directly on the floor of the oven.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This classic chocolate cake gets its unlikely moniker from its color--the same as the deep, rich soil that lines Old Man River. It's usually made in a single-layer rectangular baking pan, but we dressed ours up and fashioned it into a layer cake.

Serve with a watermelon, kiwi fruit and grape salad. You can save any leftovers for an afternoon snack with coffee.

Although they are baked, these intensely chocolaty bar cookies resemble fudge more than brownies. To retain the creamy texture, keep them in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to a week. If the bars are refrigerated, their texture will become more dense.

This recipe was created to accompany Praline Pecan Tarts .

Pumpkin adds beautiful color to the all-American cheesecake while pecan praline makes a southern-style topping. Begin preparing this cake a day ahead.

Unlike the topping on German chocolate cake, which is soft and gooey, the coconut-pecan crust on this cake-like brownie is baked, making it crisp.