Dessert Recipes

I was at the hardware store, of all places, buying a new showerhead. The guy behind the counter, name tag said “Mort,” was probably seventy-five … Read more

My older brother, Mark, claimed to hate birthday cake for fifteen years. Fifteen years. Every single party, every single celebration, he’d wave it away with … Read more

I was standing in the checkout line at Target last October when I saw them. A giant plastic tub of candy corn sitting on an … Read more

The school bake sale was in twelve hours and I’d completely forgotten. My son had reminded me twice that week—once with a note taped to … Read more

My neighbor wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to return her measuring cup—the one I’d borrowed three weeks prior and kept forgetting to … Read more

This was supposed to be a full-sized apple pie. I had the flour, the butter, the rolling pin ready to go. But my neighbor, Carol, … Read more

It was 11:47 PM on a rainy Tuesday, and I had that ache. You know the one—the specific, hollow kind that only a warm chocolate … Read more

The woman at the community garden plot next to mine watched me fumbling with a too-ripe bunch of bananas for a solid minute before she … Read more

Introduction My neighbor across the hall, a retired baker named Rosa, watched me wrestling with a giant can of pumpkin puree one Tuesday evening. I … Read more

Marta wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by her place on a Wednesday evening to pick up a book I’d lent her, and the … Read more