Your Favorite Desserts of 2014 — The Kitchn’s Best of 2014

From one sweet tooth to another, I think we can agree on one thing — there’s always room for dessert! Whether it’s as simple as a few cookies for a weeknight treat, or a beautiful layer cake to end the evening, something sweet always hits the spot.

From our essential no-bake strawberry icebox cake to over-the-top caramel fudge brownies, these 15 desserts were your absolute favorites of the year.

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Mulled Winter Punch from Belvoir Fruit Farms — Faith’s Daily Find 12.24.14

Mulled Winter Punch from Belvoir Fruit Farms

• £2.46 to $15

This sweet and spicy mulled punch is a welcome nonalcoholic alternative to cocktails and ciders. It’s made with a rich blend of fruit, including blackcurrant, which gives it a wine-like tannic body. And while it’s a great non-alcoholic drink, it’s also very good when mixed with warmed red wine. This and other Belvoir products seem easy enough to find in the UK, but they’re more expensive and rarer in the States; I’ve found this at Terrain.

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fairytale of new york

the fairytale of new york

As far as Christmas songs go, Fairytale of New York is pretty bleak. Instead of chestnuts on the open fire, horses come in 18 to 1; instead of white Christmases, morphine drips; instead of coming home for the holidays, one waits them out in drunk tanks. It’s not the stuff of greeting cards. And yet, for a whole lot of people, myself included, it wouldn’t be December without The Pogues 1987 holiday anti-ballad on repeat. It comes in handy when you’re feeling a little grinchy* about the season; there’s something of a relief in a song where nobody does anything right but aren’t pretending things are any other way. The sentiments are honest, and in a way, a little magical, choirs and bells and bands in the street, imagining better times and better years ahead.

winter spice syrup prep
the aroma of the syrup cooking will make everything right in the world

Not that I listen to the song anymore. I mean, I used to often enough that I’d drive my husband, less charmed by Christmas music, bonkers but then my son got old enough to start sorting out the words and abruptly, being a good parent won out, at least for another decade or so.

straining the syrup

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