Food Recipes Desserts 20 Desserts that Capture the Flavors of Fall By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on September 14, 2022 Trending Videos Photo: Tara Donne With apples, pears, figs, and pumpkins all ripe for the picking, it's a great time to turn on your oven and take the chill out of the air by baking up a buckle, cheesecake, or tart. Or maybe leave your oven out of it and simply poach some pears or whip up some creamy, comforting butterscotch pudding. Whatever strikes your autumn dessert fancy, F&W has just the recipe for you in this collection of amazing treats that showcase fall flavors. 01 of 20 Apple and Pear Galette with Walnut Streusel Con Poulos This free-form galette is so much less fussy to make than a traditional pie. It has great flavor and texture from both apples and pears, and the crunchy streusel on top. Using unpeeled fruit saves time and cuts down on waste. Get the Recipe 02 of 20 Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Topping © Stephanie Foley Pastry chef Katherine Beto has three rules for making the perfect cheesecake: Start with all of the ingredients at room temperature, scrape down the bowl to avoid lumps, and don't overbeat the batter. The result is a sublimely silky and light dessert that features pumpkin, cinnamon, and cloves topped with a gooey, buttery pecan praline. Get the Recipe 03 of 20 Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake © Con Poulos The maple syrup in this upside-down treat infuses both the apples and the cake, making the dessert taste like a stack of apple pancakes. Get the Recipe 04 of 20 Fiadone (Corsican Cheesecake) with Chestnut Honey and Figs Photo by Cedric Angeles / Prop Styling by Stephanie Bohn Fiadone, a slightly sweet Corsican cheesecake, is traditionally made with brocciu, a fresh goat or sheep's milk cheese, which gives it a crumbly texture. In this recipe from pastry chef Shawn Gawle of March restaurant in Houston, the cheesecake is topped with chestnut honey, which pairs perfectly with sweet caramelized figs and candied lemon zest. Get the Recipe 05 of 20 Butterscotch Pudding Parfait with Gingersnap Crumble Tara Donne Classic butterscotch pudding is enhanced with tangy whipped crème fraîche and warm, spicy gingersnap crumble to make this beautiful parfait from pastry chef Joanne Chang. Get the Recipe 06 of 20 Apple Cake with Toffee Crust © Anna Williams When pastry chef Lara Atkins was little, her mother made this cake for her bridge club; Atkins remembers how she and her brothers would have to wait (and wait and wait) for their slices until all the ladies of the club had served themselves. Atkins now makes the cake for her son, who never has to wait for his piece. Get the Recipe 07 of 20 Black Mission Fig Clafoutis © CON POULOS Chef Matthew Accarrino cleverly adds juicy fresh figs to this delicious pancake-like French dessert, then tops it with port-infused whipped cream. Get the Recipe 08 of 20 Maple-Bourbon Banana Pudding Cake Fredrika Stjärne While this delicious, simple cake bakes, a sweet, rich sauce forms in the bottom of the dish. After briefly letting it cool, serve with ice cream. Get the Recipe 09 of 20 Honeyed Fig Crostatas © CON POULOS These beautiful tartlets are sure to wow your guests with their impressive presentation. A colorful mix of both green and purple figs is flavor-boosted by lemon juice, honey, and just a hint of thyme. Get the Recipe 10 of 20 Sticky Toffee Pudding Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Caitlin Haught Brown These luscious sticky toffee puddings are all about the honeyed sweetness of plump dates and creamy caramel. A touch of corn syrup ensures that the caramel stays silky smooth, while a bit of vanilla in the cake complements its richness. Serve them with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream for contrast. Get the Recipe 11 of 20 Harvest Cake with Grapes and Sangiovese Syrup © Coral Von Zumwalt Chef Sheamus Feeley loves to bake this moist cake at harvest time using Sangiovese grapes and grape juice, but any seedless red table grapes and unsweetened grape juice will work. Get the Recipe 12 of 20 Vanilla and Cider Panna Cottas with Spiced Ginger Cookies © John Kernick This cinnamon and vanilla-tinged panna cotta combines creamy and tangy flavors for an elegant after-dinner treat. The ginger cookies provide a lovely textural contrast to the cream. Get the Recipe 13 of 20 Pumpkin Cheesecake with Brown-Butter Pears © Con Poulos Perfect for fall dinner parties, this pumpkin cheesecake is rich, creamy, and the ideal end to a meal. Using gingersnaps for the crust instead of graham crackers adds a spiced sweetness to the dessert. Get the Recipe 14 of 20 Apple Tart with Almond Cream © Lisa Linder For this dessert, the thin, crisp pastry shell is filled with almond cream made from both finely ground and coarsely chopped nuts, providing layers of texture beneath the apples. Get the Recipe 15 of 20 Pumpkin-Gingersnap Tiramisù © Lucy Schaeffer Pumpkin pie meets tiramisù, with layers of pumpkin-mascarpone custard and gingersnaps brushed with Calvados syrup. In the freezer, the flavors and textures meld to form a deliciously creamy dessert. Get the Recipe 16 of 20 Poached Pears in Muscat Photo by Mary Jo Hoffman Languedoc and Mediterranean France make beautifully aromatic, sweet Muscat dessert wines that soak into these poached pears. This recipe replaces the usual sugar with honey, countering the sweetness and floral notes of the reduced wine with some of the resinous and earthy aromas of the area's famous wild scrubland: namely bay, thyme, and fennel. Get the Recipe 17 of 20 Sweet Potato Meringue Pie © TINA RUPP This dessert from 2000 F&W Best New Chef Andrew Carmellini looks like a pumpkin pie, but the filling is actually made with sweet potato. It sits on a spiced graham cracker-pecan crust and is topped with billowy meringue instead of the typical whipped cream. Get the Recipe 18 of 20 Autumn Apple Buckle © Anna Williams Buckles, simple streusel-topped cakes studded with fruit, are traditionally made with summer berries. For his autumn version, late chef Jan Birnbaum substituted tart apples, for a denser, more coffee-cake-like dessert. Get the Recipe 19 of 20 Pear, Honey, and Parmigiano-Reggiano Tart Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley This sweet and savory dessert tart pairs Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and freshly cracked black pepper with juicy pears and a drizzle of fragrant honey. The addition of Parmigiano-Reggiano to the pastry dough gives cookbook author Kate Leahy's already flaky crust extra richness and a subtle nutty flavor. Get the Recipe 20 of 20 Pecan Pie Bars © Con Poulos These tender and delicious pecan pie bars have an effortless press-in crust and a custard-like filling. Once the pecan halves are mixed into the filling, all you have to do is pour it into the prepared crust and bake. You can certainly enjoy these bars plain, but a scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn't hurt, either. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? 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