Chocolate

Susanna Foo, who was born in Mongolia, learned to cook classic Chinese cuisine from relatives. After arriving in the United States, she took a course in French cooking at the Culinary Institute of America. So when she and her husband, E-Hsin Foo, opened Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine in 1987, her menu naturally featured Chinese dishes interpreted with French techniques. Foo emphasizes fresh, locally available ingredients and delicious sauces, and the results of her approach have brought a slew of local and national awards.

The sweet, nutty filling might remind you of a pecan pie — with melted chocolate chips.

Pecan pie dresses up for the holiday. Chocoholics, take note: In addition to the bits of chocolate in the filling, there's cocoa powder in the delicious crust.

If you love peanut butter, these cookies will be It. I created what I believe to be quintessential peanut butter cookies to honor the one hundredth anniversary of peanut butter. They are very peanut buttery yet exceptionally light, with a lovely "sandy" bite. At my husband's urging, I doubled up on the peanut butter and decreased the flour, making the chocolate cookie centers seem like biting into a Reese's peanut butter cup. Chocolate centers blend wonderfully with the peanut flavor, but the bright, tart, sticky cherry centers, are my first choice.

Chill the pie for at least six hours before serving — or make it up to two days ahead.

Debra says this very American made-from-scratch cake, which is truly fast and easy, always gets rave reviews from kids and their parents in Paris.

This dessert is a dense and rich chocolate mousse-like cake chilled in a mold.

Carole McCallum, Sammamish, Wash.
"Instead of Kahlúa, try Grand Marnier, crème de cacao, or another liqueur. For a festive touch, add green or red sprinkles."

These classic cookies, known in Italy as baci di dama ("lady's kisses") taste great with espresso. This recipe, by chef Carla Tomasi of the "Tasting Places" cooking course in Tuscany and other regions of Italy, uses hazelnuts instead of the more traditional almonds. Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 2 1/4 hr

Jennifer Larson of Beirut, Lebanon, writes: "I had a fabulous lunch at Rosa Mexicano in New York. The warm chocolate cake with sweet tomatillo sauce really stood out. Can you get the recipe?" Chocolate labels can be confusing because there's no official distinction between semisweet and bittersweet. We tested this recipe using Valrhona (56%), which is labeled semisweet, Ghirardelli Bittersweet, and Lindt Bittersweet. We got the best result using Valrhona (56%), but if Valrhona is not available, we recommend Ghirardelli Bittersweet over Lindt Bittersweet for this recipe.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

These truffles must be kept in the refrigerator and, in fact, are best eaten chilled.

This cake and custard sauce can also be made ahead. Both should come out of the refrigerator, to take the chill off, when the first course is served. The accompanying caramelized pears, which require not more than a few minutes to sauté, make a welcome addition to the cool custard sauce and moist cake.

In my New York shop, this recipe calls for a trio of chocolate mousses, white, milk, and dark. But in order to simplify — and to give milk chocolate a chance to shine — I have eliminated the white chocolate mousse. It is a simple layer cake consisting of chocolate génoise and the mousses.

This dessert couldn't be simpler to put together. The no-bake crust is made from cookie crumbs and butter, and the pie itself cooks in just ten minutes.

It's hard to improve on chocolate layer cake, but we think we've done just that, thanks to a hint of mint. Offer vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt alongside.

White Chocolate Tartlets with Strawberries and Bananas These irresistible sweets feature a hazelnut crust that is lined with dark chocolate and filled with white chocolate mousse.