Recipes with sugar

Gujarati-style cabbage and carrots stir-fried with mustard seeds, asafetida, green and red chilies, cilantro, and lemon juice. A quick Indian vegetable side dish with bold spice.

Three layer pumpkin pie with a spiced pumpkin filling, brown sugar pecan streusel, and a creamy vanilla cream cheese topping. Makes two showstopper pies for Thanksgiving.

Cherried sweet potato scallop layers sweet potatoes and tart cherries in brown sugar and orange juice syrup, crowned with toasted marshmallows. A retro holiday side with a tart twist.

Chinese stewed cauliflower in a creamy milk and stock sauce with straw mushrooms, Tientsin cabbage, and garlic. A wok-cooked vegetable dish with optional shrimp or crab.

Oatmeal raisin bar cookies spread in a shallow pan and baked at 325. Three cups of rolled oats, sour milk, and raisins in a soft, cake-like sheet cookie. Mix, spread, bake, done.

Homemade bagels boiled then baked for that classic chewy crust and tender crumb. Customize with poppy, sesame, garlic, or onion toppings. Freezer-friendly and worth every minute of kneading.

Grandma Murphy's Irish soda bread with buttermilk, raisins, and caraway seeds baked in a cast iron skillet. No kneading, no yeast, just mix and bake for a crusty, tender loaf.

Stir-fried pork in wine sauce is a classic Chinese dish with stir-fried pork loin braised in a homemade wine lees paste of rice, yeast, soy, and sherry.

Dense chocolate tube cake loaded with melted chocolate bars plus chocolate syrup for double the flavor. Crunchy pecans throughout, no icing needed for this fudgy beauty.

Szechuan chicken stir-fry with cornstarch-coated chicken breast, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and a hot kick of cayenne. The classic American-Chinese takeout dinner ready in 35 minutes.

Salsa de Linda is an easy, no-cook salsa: a coarsely blended tomato base loaded with chopped onion, peppers, and green chilies, then spiced with cumin, oregano, garlic, and cayenne. Ready for chips in 10 minutes.

Peach ice cream crown cake stacks vanilla ice cream and ladyfingers in a springform mold, finished with sliced peaches and a glossy white wine sauce. A no-bake summer showstopper.

Vanilla pecan slice-and-bake cookies from a make-ahead dough that chills into logs and freezes for up to 3 months. Crisp, buttery icebox cookies baked from frozen in 12 minutes.

Raspberry-filled jelly doughnuts made from canned biscuits, dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. A clever shortcut that tastes like the real thing.

Lighter chocolate and raspberry cream torte with four layers of cocoa cake, raspberry jam, and a pink raspberry whipped cream. Made with skim milk and low-fat margarine for a lower-fat celebration dessert.

Frozen fig and chocolate ice cream mousse with vanilla wafers, toasted walnuts, instant coffee, and whipped cream. A retro molded dessert garnished with whole figs.