Chocolate

"Instead of staring at the ceiling one night when I was having trouble sleeping, I passed the time by baking," says Angelo Monaco of Cambridge, Massachusetts. "The result of my insomnia was this chocolate cake. It's light, moist and really delicious."

A show-stopper centerpiece cake for February fourteenth. White chocolate provides a rich, buttery texture. To serve, remove the chocolate lid and break it into pieces to nibble along with the cake.

Espresso, chocolate and orange star in a very rich, very elegant cheesecake.

Gianduia, the classic Italian combination of hazelnuts and chocolate, is never more appropriate than in fall, when the hazelnuts are harvested throughout Piedmont. Here the mixture is showcased in a soft, simple pudding, spiked with hazelnut liqueur and sprinkled with toasted hazelnuts.

Because watermelons vary in size and shape, your yield from the following recipe may differ from ours. We began with a fourth of a large watermelon. When slicing the watermelon, aim for a minimum of four slices but be aware that you could have as many as six, depending on the configuration of your melon; a long, narrow watermelon will give more slices than a fatter, rounded one.

Easy, do-ahead heart-shaped cookies to go with the strawberries.

In this recipe, dense chocolate cake is topped with a glaze made from raspberry jam and chocolate-fresh berries are the finishing touch. This dessert is elegant picnic fare: Prepare the bars a day ahead, and pack in a covered container.

Flourless cakes with a pudding-like center.

(Toasted Almond, Cinnamon and Chocolate Torte)

This recipe was created to accompany Chocolate Strawberry Orange Wedding Cake .

First came the grasshopper cocktail, a sweet digestif the essential ingredients of which are green (thus the grasshopper) crème de menthe, white crème de cacao, and cream; then, in the sixties, came the eponymous pie, which always has a crust of either cookie or graham cracker crumbs and is served chilled.

To save time, simply skip the topping.