Chocolate

This classic truffle is made from a simple bittersweet ganache. Adding a few special ingredients makes these truffles anything but ordinary - for variations see balsamic truffles, mango curry truffles and meyer lemon and thyme truffles

These tiny cakes make terrific gifts, packaged in sets of three — one of each flavor. The basic vanilla batter is also wonderful for other variations — try orange rind and white chocolate-chip, raisin-walnut, or "the kitchen sink" (that's whatever you need to get rid of in your pantry). I also like to keep some of these loaves in my freezer for impromptu breakfast parties. Just move them to the refrigerator before bed, and they'll be thawed by morning.

Laden with chocolate, butter, and old-world charm, this babka is luscious served as dessert, with coffee, or as breakfast. While baking, the rich dough becomes incredibly tender, so it pulls apart in buttery pieces that melt in your mouth.

It's the sprinkle of sea salt that really takes these caramels over the top, teasing out the creamy richness of the buttery chocolate candies.

Who doesn't love Rice Krispies treats? By adding dark chocolate ganache with a tiny jolt of coffee flavor, we've turned the classic into a sophisticated and whimsical bite-size dessert. We found that combining bittersweet chocolate of different cacao levels results in a ganache that has just the right intensity without being overpowering.

Buttery and crunchy, with a rich, oozy center, these little sandwiches (a cross between panini and chocolate croissants) provide a sweet ending that can be prepared in just minutes.

These classic rich, chewy cookies crack — or, yes, crinkle — as they bake. Hazelnuts, cocoa, and chocolate come together to make them particularly potent.

Editor's note: This recipe is from Ming Tsai's Simply Ming. This recipe only uses 1/4 of Ming Tsai's butter shortbread cookie dough. Use the rest to make classic shortbread, five-spice shortbread, and caramel macadamia nut crunch.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Truffles : 50 Deliciously Decadent Homemade Chocolate Treats _by Dede Wilson. Cacao beans, from which we get all our wonderful chocolate, are now available in raw form. Called cacao (or cocoa) nibs, they look like tiny brown nuggets similar in shape to kasha or buckwheat groats. Cacao nibs are not sweet, but they have an intense chocolate flavor unlike any other product. In this recipe, they are steeped in cream to add flavor to the ganache and chopped for use as a topping._

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I had dinner at Frisson. I can't stop thinking about the amazing chocolate soufflé with a creamy peanut butter center. Annie McLeir, Falmouth, MA

There will be a bit of pistachio paste left over: stir it into your next batch of brownies.

A creamy frozen eggnog mousse layered with paper-thin sheets of crisp chocolate. Be sure to make the chocolate disks and lace before making the mousse filling.

Coarsely ground black pepper lends a spicy note to this dense, moist brownie cake studded with dried cherries and chocolate chips. Cherry Preserves are thicker than cherry jam and give the Black Forest Torte more body. Look for cherry preserves in supermarkets.

A sumptuous chocolate-caramel ganache alternates with layers of cake sweetened with chestnut cream.

Dallas chef Kent Rathbun created this fabulous dessert for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

These luscious cranberry-studded cakes enriched with bourbon and pecans break away from traditional pumpkin pie without eliminating all those beloved ingredients that say Thanksgiving.