By Sarinna Vasavada

Hi everyone! With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought that all of you would love to get some delicious dessert recipes that you can make to share with your friends and family. These are just a few of my favorite recipes.  

Pumpkin Roll 

Ingredients: 

Two 3-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick butter (½ cup) 

½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

3 large eggs 

1 cup granulated sugar 

⅔ cup canned pumpkin 

1 teaspoon lemon juice 

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup pecans, finely chopped 

1 cup confectioners’ sugar 

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 17 1/2- by 12 1/2-inch jellyroll pan. With an electric mixer, beat the eggs, granulated sugar, pumpkin and lemon juice until smooth. Sift together the flour, ginger, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the sifted ingredients to the egg mixture and blend until fully combined. Spread batter in the jelly roll pan. Sprinkle the dough with the chopped pecans. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 14 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack. Sprinkle some of the confectioner’ sugar on a large tea towel and carefully transfer the warm cake to the towel, folding the sides of the towel over the cake. Roll the cake up in the towel and cool in the refrigerator thoroughly for about 45 minutes. With an electric mixer, combine the confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla and beat until smooth. Carefully unroll the cooled cake and spread the mixture on top of the cake. Gently re-roll the cake up and refrigerate it until you’re ready to slice and serve. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Sugar Cookies 

Ingredients:

Cookies: 

1 cup granulated sugar 

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Fine salt 

12 tablespoons unsalted butter 

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Icing: 

2 tablespoons meringue powder 

One 1 pound box confectioners’ sugar 

Food coloring 

Directions: 

1.    For the cookies: Put the sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to finely grind. Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pulse just to combine.

2.    Add the butter and pulse until all of the butter is incorporated into the flour and the mixture is sandy. Add the egg and vanilla and pulse until mixture comes together in big clumps.

3.    Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead a few times to form a ball. Divide the dough in half, pat into 2 discs about 1/4-inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and

refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

4.    Position an oven rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

5.   Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes to make rolling easier. Put 1 disc of dough between the 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick. Cut out with desired cookie cutters and arrange on one of the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until the bottom of the cookies are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Gently gather any scraps into a ball and press into another disc. Chill the disc until firm enough to roll and cut out as many

cookies as possible.

6.   For the icing: Sift the meringue powder and confectioners’ sugar together in a large bowl and add 6 tablespoons water. Beat with an electric mixer on medium-high until mixture is glossy and soft peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes. Add food coloring if using or divide into several batches and color with different shades of food coloring. Decorate cookies as desired. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake 

Ingredients: 

8 whole graham crackers

1 cup lightly toasted walnuts, divided

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1 tablespoon orange zest

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature (recommended: Philadelphia)

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light muscovado sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 large vanilla bean, seeds scraped

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 recipe Apple Mixture, recipe follows

1 recipe Apple Caramel Sauce, recipe follows

Apple Mixture: 

2 cups of apple juice

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, reserved from the cheesecake mixture

1 tablespoon cold butter

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced

3 Fuji apples, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced

1/4 cup apple brandy (recommended: Calvados)


Apple-Caramel Sauce:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream

Pinch salt

3 tablespoons apple brandy (recommended: Calvados)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions: 

1.     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.     Place the graham crackers, 1/2 cup of walnuts and brown sugar in a food processor and process until finely ground. With the motor running, add the butter through the feed tube and process until mixture just comes together. Spray the bottom and side of the pan with cooking spray. Pat the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until lightly golden brown and just set, about 8 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and let cool completely.

3.     Combine 1/4 cup of sugar and orange zest in a food processor and process until combined.

4.     Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the orange sugar, remaining granulated sugar, and light muscovado sugar and beat again until the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time and mix until just incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the vanilla seeds and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the salt and heavy cream and mix until just combined.

5.     Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Set the cheesecake pan on a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and fold up the sides around it. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake. Bake until the sides of the cake are slightly puffed and set and the center still jiggles, about 55 minutes.

6.     Turn the heat off and prop the door open with a wooden spoon and allow the cake to cook in a water bath for 1 hour. Remove the cake to a baking rack and allow to cool to room temperature for 2 hours. Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours until chilled through.

7.     Top with the warm apple topping, drizzle liberally with the caramel sauce and sprinkle with the remaining toasted walnuts. Serve additional sauce on the side.