Chocolate

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Festive pipe cookies spread with minted white chocolate and coated with dark chocolate. Great for after dinner.

The candy gets its name from the popular German cake flavored with chocolate and cherries. Place the fudge in paper candy cups, and present it in pretty boxes tied with silk ribbon and holly sprigs.

Fudgies, says my friend Cindy Kane, "are the most wonderful food in the world." She must really think so, since she's sent me the recipe three times. It is pretty great, though, and not only that — it's also easy enough for children aged eight and up to make for themselves. And, says Cindy, "It makes more than you'd think." The only change I've made from her recipe is that I've substituted unsweetened chocolate for cocoa.

Sinfully rich chocolate mousse was introduced to Americans by Julia Child on television during the sixties. The combination here of fresh berries, white chocolate cream and dark chocolate mousse has timeless appeal.

The large amount of chocolate glaze called for in this recipe makes the dipping process easier. (The leftover glaze is an excellent sauce for ice cream.)

In 1933, Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, chopped up some chocolate bars and added the chunks to cookie dough, hoping that they would blend into the dough as they melted. Instead they held their shape, and Toll House cookies were a delicious creation. By the 1940s they were a hit.

Jennifer Martin of Portland, Oregon, writes: "I am not formally trained in cooking but grew up working in food service, from chopping vegetables at food festivals to catering parties for a little extra income. Today I own Epicure Custom Cooking, a gourmet takeout shop and catering company with a few tables for dining. Our specials change weekly and are geared toward what I like to cook and eat. I simply love the business, even with my 12-hour days." Use bananas with some black spots on the skin, a sign that they are really ripe.

Begin preparing this the day before you plan to serve it to allow the mousse to set.

Presenting the ultimate treat for the die-hard chocolate fan….

On Valentine's Day, it would be hard to beat these lovely treats. Good news: You can begin pre-paring them a day ahead.

Chocolate and cherry — the flavors of Germany's famous Black Forest torte — combine in this moist, fudgy cake. Baked in a metal bowl and covered with whipped cream, it resembles a snowball (boule-de-neige). Begin making this at least one day ahead.

Here's a great-tasting, visually stunning treat that can be made up to a week ahead.

White chocolate can be finicky to work with. We tried making this "leather" with different brands of white chocolate but achieved the most consistently good results with Callebaut and Baker's Premium White. You will need to repeat this recipe 4 times to make enough leather for 8 Tepee Birthday Cakes-do not try to save time by making one big batch.