Chocolate

Try this rich, dense, flourless cupcake recipe with Chocolate Ganache (page 92); enjoy with a nice strong cup of coffee or tea.

This cupcake with white chocolate chips and chunks of cherry is superb with White Chocolate Frosting (page 94). Top the cupcakes with a cherry for a special finishing touch. For a holiday version, substitute frozen cranberries for the cherries in the batter.

Chocolate and almonds are a match made in heaven’s kitchen. This cupcake has both healthy dark chocolate and antioxidant-rich almonds (a superfood) in a fudgy base for a little hit of healthy deliciousness in every bite. Try these with Chocolate Ganache (page 92).

This gooey cupcake oozes chocolate goodness. These are not your regular cupcakes—they will look like a little chocolate bowl with a crater in the middle—perfect for rich fillings! Serve warm, filled with a big dollop of Whipped Cream Frosting (page 93), and eat them with a spoon.

When I met Robyn Baldwin, one of my loyal readers, at a book signing in Davis, California (my hometown), she gave me the idea for these chocolate cupcakes with a cookie center. Thanks, Robyn! Frost with Vegan Chocolate Frosting (page 92).

Moist mocha cakes with dark chocolate chips, these nutritious yet decadent sweets are equally well suited for a post-workout snack or for a party with Vegan Chocolate Frosting (page 92).

These bite-size, grab-and-go mini chip–studded gems are a taste sensation at children’s birthday parties. Or, if you’re hesitant to commit to a regular-size cupcake, a mini such as this might be the perfect solution. Enjoy!

We heard about peanut butter–topped Ritz cracker treats from a friend in the Midwest. This is our down-South version, tricked out with both jam and chocolate.

Bobby’s dream is to retire to a beach in the Caribbean and sell frozen chocolate-covered bananas on a stick (see A Bit More, Y’all). He’d be open from noon to one, just long enough to eat lunch and read the paper. The hoped-for sales for each day would be six bananas. Seeing how this dream is not coming true any time soon, he’ll just have to settle for these island-inspired delights. We roll them in coconut for that tropical taste, and since they’re mostly fruit, they’re a pretty healthy dessert or snack. For an extra-special treat, roll them in the crushed candy or cookie topping of your choice.

Calling all chocolate lovers! No matter what kind of chocolate you like, this dish is for you. Decadent layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate on an Oreo cookie base—you can close your mouth now.

Rice Krispies? Check. Peanut Butter? Check. Chocolate? Check. Delicious on their own, these three flavors will knock your socks off when layered together. The bars are decadent and rich, so be sure to have a glass of milk handy.

It’s bananas how good this dessert is! Seriously, it doesn’t get much better than this. A creamy peanut butter topping covers layers of fresh bananas and a tasty vanilla-wafer crust. Drizzled with a rich chocolate sauce, we think it’s the best in the bunch!

This outrageous breakfast bread was introduced to Crystal when she was at her dear friend Amy’s home. It was one of those scenarios where you have room for only one piece, yet end up taking the loaf home! Amy told Crystal that her mom and her mom’s friend Janie made this recipe often when Amy was growing up. When they had passed, Amy inherited her mom’s recipe book, which included several copies of this recipe, in both her mom’s and Janie’s handwritings. Amy has taken to making it every holiday for her family and friends. Baking and sharing this delicious bread with the rest of the family is the ultimate way to honor their memories and their special friendship.

Every time I go to a street fair or the New York state fair, I breathe in the smell of fried dough as it wafts through the crowd and just go crazy for it. So I couldn’t help but come up with my own version of the classic zeppole. But of course I added my own sexy twist: a delicious chocolate dipper! With this dessert, your kitchen will be as popular as the zeppole stand at the state fair.

Donuts are usually fairly judged by both the quality of their crumb and the imagination of their topping, but this is one donut you will want to eat straight out of the oven as is. The chocolate swirl creates an interesting balance to all the spice, while also adding a smooth yet crunchy texture.

Donuts are still new enough to me that I see ideas for toppings in just about everything. Fleshing out odd pairings is one of my favorite pastimes. It’s that type of excitement you can pursue for days and weeks and months and then, right when you think you’re out of ideas, something genius comes along that makes all the effort entirely worth it. Here are several of BabyCakes NYC’s most popular donut toppings. Some require Vanilla Icing to get them to adhere to the donut. In every case, I find it is easiest to put the mixture in a wide bowl so that dunking the cakes isn’t too much of a fuss.

This recipe is extremely easy and can be ready in a jiff. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can make this in the oven or the microwave. Be warned: Your bowl or saucepan must be bone dry before you put the chips in or the sauce will break—a not-exactly technical term for separating into a lumpy mess. If, after you’re finished dipping your donut, you have a little extra, simply cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. As a rule of thumb, this recipe will keep for 5 days. The sauce is shown here topping a Plain Cake Donut (page 120) with stripes of Vanilla Icing (page 127).

If you are having a party, I suggest this cake for two important reasons. First, you can make it up to a week ahead so you can focus on all the party duties you put off until the last moment. Second, there is not a person alive who doesn’t love ice cream cake. (If you find someone who says he/she doesn’t like ice cream cake, you can be pretty sure he/she is an insecure liar and I suggest you steer very clear of him/her.) I’ve really come to like the raspberry, vanilla, and chocolate combo, but there are absolutely no constraints on the flavor pairings with this one, and you can swap the layers around if you want.

In New York there is no shortage of Italian bakeries, and as a rule I try to poke my head in as many as possible to peek at the offerings. Italians are creative masters, and of course it’s always the Italian rainbow cake that first catches my eye. Probably I’m just hypnotized by a cool color palette, like a puppy watching TV. When choosing your preserves for this one, spend a little extra on the good organic stuff. The success of your cake depends on it! If you are allergic to almonds, omitting the extract won’t compromise your cake.

My dad has a special affection for See’s candy, and he made sure that at least a couple pounds were at the table every holiday. At the end of the day, all that was left were a few coconut pieces with a tiny, investigative corner bitten off. These days, though, I’m putting coconut on just about everything (see Dressing Up Your Donut, page 131). This recipe is inspired by the coconut delights that See’s is famous for everywhere except my parents’ house. Here, too, are a couple quick tips for melting chocolate: (1) Make sure there’s no water in your bowl before you melt the chocolate or it will separate and be gross, and (2) if you are a microwave user, you can zap the chocolate chips for 30 seconds on high, then stir until the chips are melted.