Family Desserts

Plain old-fashioned double crust apple pie: 6 cups of sliced apples, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, baked at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until the juice bubbles thick. Served warm, with or without a slice of sharp cheddar.

A tender, flaky all-butter pie crust the old way: cold butter worked in until pea-size, ice water with a tablespoon of vinegar, stopped while the dough is still shaggy. Makes two crusts, plus how to blind bake a shell at 425 degrees.

Old-fashioned oven cinnamon toast for a whole family: soft butter mashed with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and a pinch of salt into a paste, spread to every edge, baked at 350 degrees, then finished under the broiler until the top crackles.

The old Southern batter peach cobbler: butter melted in a 9 by 13 dish, a simple batter poured over it, canned or fresh peaches spooned on top, cinnamon sugar, and nobody stirs. Baked at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes until the crust rises through the fruit.

Old-fashioned pumpkin bars baked in a 15 by 10 inch jelly roll pan at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, then covered in thick cream cheese frosting. Cups and grams, the cooling rule, and how to cut them for a crowd.

Saltine cracker toffee in a 10 by 15 sheet pan: a single layer of saltine crackers under a butter and brown sugar toffee boiled for 3 minutes, baked 5 minutes at 400 degrees, topped with melted chocolate chips, chopped pecans and flaky salt, chilled and broken into pieces. Exact amounts and times.

The classic Victoria sponge the way British show judges still want it: two butter sponges baked in 8 inch pans at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, raspberry jam in the middle and a dusting of fine sugar on top. US cups with grams.

Old-fashioned Watergate salad, the green pistachio fluff of every seventies potluck: instant pistachio pudding mix stirred into crushed pineapple with its juice, whipped topping, mini marshmallows, pecans and a little coconut. No stove, five minutes, chilled 60 minutes.

The from-scratch yellow sheet cake with cooked chocolate fudge frosting: a buttery 9 by 13 yellow cake, and a frosting of butter, cocoa and milk boiled in a saucepan, beaten with powdered sugar and poured over the warm cake so it sets with a shine. Cups and grams, oven temperature and time.

The old Yorkshire curd tart: fresh curds made at home from whole milk and lemon juice, mixed with sugar, butter, eggs, currants, lemon zest and nutmeg, baked in a 9 inch pastry shell at 375 degrees. Cups and grams, the times, and how to drain the curds.

Old-fashioned cake-style apple cider donuts: cider boiled down to a syrup, a soft spiced dough chilled an hour, cut with a glass, fried in two inches of oil at 365°F and rolled in cinnamon sugar while hot. Cups and grams.

The Depression breakfast in two steps: cornmeal cooked thick and stirred for 20 to 25 minutes, set overnight in a loaf pan, then sliced 3/4 inch thick and fried in a hot skillet in a little butter until the crust releases on its own. Served with butter and syrup, or butter and salt. Cups and grams.