Chocolate

Chocolate a la Taza Light and tender buñuelos de viento are often dipped into chocolate a la taza, a hot chocolate drink thick enough to coat them.

Elise McBryde of Stamford, Connecticut, writes: "I would love to have the recipe for the Valrhona chocolate pudding served at the City Limits Diner, in Stamford, Connecticut."

These frozen dessert bars are large enough to hold you through a double feature. Don't worry about them melting — they're just as delicious when they soften.

Like all the names of the desserts at Sugar, this one is a play on a literary work (André Gide's The Immoralist). The campfire favorite is made at once more refined and more scrumptious: Meltingly soft, homemade marshmallows are caramelized atop tender, crumbly chocolate sablé cookies. You will need to use a stand mixer to prepare the fresh marshmallows, and a kitchen blowtorch to caramelize them.

The ganache needs to freeze overnight, so start preparing it at least one day before serving.

A few blocks from Seattle's Pike Place Market, Cascadia is an occasion-worthy restaurant that celebrates regional ingredients with impeccable taste. Same goes for the dessert menu: No flights of fusion fancy here or innovation for novelty's sake, just suavely executed renditions of old favorites that feel new. You can freeze any extra unfilled cream puffs for another use.

A topping of chopped Heath bars gives these brownies a satisfying crunch.

Pat Kyofski of Brooklyn, New York, writes: "I have a huge sweet tooth, so you can imagine my delight when my friends told me they were taking me to ChikaLicious, a dessert bar in the East Village, for my birthday. We all ordered something different, but soon found that one chocolate tart with pink peppercorn ice cream wasn't enough. Would chef Chika Tillman share the recipe?" At the restaurant, the tart is also served with a red wine sauce. The dough needs to chill overnight, so start preparing it a day ahead.

This recipe sponsored by Black Swan Vineyards

This is a variation of a recipe developed by the late Patrick Clark, chef of New York's Tavern on the Green.

Here's the archetypal cocoa, topped with marshmallows and made even better by the addition of bittersweet chocolate.

The flavor of orange  — a natural partner for chocolate  — really comes through in this dessert-like drink. It's topped with sweet whipped cream and can be garnished with orange peel twists and chocolate curls. If you prefer cocoa a little less rich, cut the amount of milk chocolate to seven ounces.

If you don't have a molinillo, the traditional hot chocolate frother, use a blender instead.

Here's a rich version of a favorite warm-up.