Season 4

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  Showstopper Desserts

  When entertaining, we like desserts that look more complicated to prepare than they really are. A chocolate mousse cake requires a minimum of ingredients and comes together in minutes, but it is sure to elicit the proper oohs and aahs from guests. And a chilled lemon soufflé is made from basic ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now.

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  Lemon Cheesecake

  Although some would never dare to adulterate plain cheesecake, variations abound—some good, some bad, some ugly. Lemon is the one version that serves a function by cutting through the cloying nature of this rich dessert. We discovered a host of different lemon cheesecake styles, but most of the lemon flavor was either too fleeting or too harsh. We wanted our cheesecake to be both light and creamy, with great lemon flavor.

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  Easy Sheet Cakes

  A sheet cake is like a two-layer cake with training wheels—it’s hard to fall off. But sheet cakes are still cakes. They can still turn out dry, sticky, or flavorless, and on occasion they can even sink in the middle. The test kitchen decided to tackle two popular sheet cakes—carrot and chocolate—and produce simple recipes that would deliver superior results.

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  Summer Berry Desserts

  We especially like to use summer berries in a no-bake pie. Unfortunately, most recipes are nothing more than berries suspended in gelatin, with a spray from a can of “whipped’’ cream as a garnish. We wanted a no-bake pie that was every bit as appealing as a traditional double-crust pie—without all of the work.

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  Cookie Jar Favorites

  Although easy to prepare, most cookie recipes are notoriously fickle. A minor ingredient change or fluctuation in oven temperature can yield unexpected results. Our goal was simple: Take two favorite cookies and develop reliable recipes that taste great.

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  The Pancakes Show

  Few recipes deliver so much pleasure for so little work as pancakes. The batter comes together in minutes, and the cooking time is brief. Why, then, do most Americans never make pancakes from scratch?