Chocolate

This dense, moist chocolate cake, made with dried pears, is stunning when decorated with gold leaf. Of course, you can always simply top it with chocolate curls.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Perfect for an elegant dinner party, this sophisticated dessert is a snap to make.

For best results, choose ripe yellow bananas that do not have brown speckles on their skins. This dessert is great served either slightly warm or at room temperature.

Soufflés are a British favorite. This recipe combines pieces of toffee in a creamy soufflé, with chocolate sauce on the side.

This recipe calls for green-and-white or clear peppermints as well as red-and-white ones. If you can't find the green-and-white or clear mints, use additional red-and-white candies.

Easy and elegant. A store-bought pie crust is filled with brownie mix that has been given a lift with peppermint extract. Offer mint chip ice cream alongside, if you like.

While not exactly diet food, this mousse allows chocoholics to indulge and spares them calories from yolks, butter and cream.

Serve over vanilla ice cream and top with whipped cream.

Pretty ice cream treats, decorated five different ways. Turn the freezer to the coldest setting for best results. Pack the left-over ice cream into a container and freeze it to enjoy after the bonbons are gone. Begin this recipe at least a day ahead (and you can start up to a week ahead). Once you¸ve mastered the technique here, create bonbons of your own using other homemade ice creams or your favorite purchased ones.

"The recipes here reflect my British roots, but not necessarily my family traditions," writes Mairi Morrison of London, England. "Although my mother is from Scotland and my father is from Northern Ireland, I grew up in Los Angeles, where our weeknight meals were typically American: spaghetti, tacos, and burgers. It wasn't until I moved to Europe that I became really interested in food. Here in London my social life is centered around the table. I really like this dish because it is typically British, and perfect for a rainy winter evening in London." Make these ahead if you like (they will keep for a week in the fridge) or make them on a whim, since the recipe is so easy. Lyle's Golden Syrup is a popular British sweetener with a flavor that's similar to mild honey.

The trick to this gorgeous dessert is to use imported white chocolate and to melt it carefully, since white chocolate is extremely heat sensitive. Let the terrine mixture get only warm enough to melt the white chocolate and butter.

Whole eggs, angel food cake, light cream cheese and light sour cream bring the calorie count of this Italian dessert way down.

This recipe was adapted from Richard Sax's ricotta Bavarian, in his book Classic Home Desserts. The pudding's flavor is similar to cannoli filling, but it has the lightness of Bavarian cream. It's important to use fine-quality candied fruit.*