Chocolate

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Kids and adults alike will get a kick out of this tower of ice cream. It makes a spectacular-yet easy-dessert for summer birthday celebration.

Alternating layers of strawberry and white chocolate mousses form stripes in this creamy frozen dessert.

To many people living in the middle of the country, celebration cakes must be chocolate cakes — especially German chocolate cakes. This one embellishes the tradition, using unsweetened chocolate instead of sweet chocolate, a luscious caramel-coconut filling between the layers and lots of creamy chocolate frosting. (By the way, German chocolate cakes have nothing to do with the immigrants who settled in the heartland; the name actually comes from the fact that the cakes were first made with Baker's brand German's sweet baking chocolate.)

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A festive and refreshing dessert.

Orange syrup sweetens the cake and the fresh fruit that goes with it.

In this dessert, buttery pastry shells enclose a silky dark chocolate ganache filling highlighted with fresh lemon.

(CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH NUTS AND RAISINS) Here is a chocolate cake that will delight your palate. Use the best bittersweet chocolate you can find!

We recommend serving these griddle cakes with orange slices on the side. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min

This delicious dessert from March in New York has a decadent molten center.

For convenience, these can be made up to three days ahead.

Vanilla and Almond Frosting is an accompaniment for this recipe.

This makes more pastry dough than you'll need for 24 tartlets. We chose not to reduce the recipe because pastry can be a bit tricky—the slightest change can affect the outcome (halving eggs tends to increase the chance of error). If you want to make more tartlet shells—which could be filled with fruit, ice cream, or pudding for another party—they can be frozen for 1 month. The leftover dough can also be used to make cookies.