Chocolate

Some research suggests dark chocolate reduces cravings for sweet, salty and fatty foods. But don't worry—the effects won't kick in until after you've cleaned your bowl.

Taste absolutely sinful…but they're not. You can make them up to two days ahead and store in an airtight container.

A combination of whipped cream and ice cream gives semifreddos a frozen mousselike silkiness. The rich chocolate sauce is just the icing on the sundae.

To make this easy ice cream, strain hot custard over semi-sweet chocolate and fold in malted milk balls once the custard has cooled.

The name egg cream is misleading—in actuality, the soda fountain classic contains no eggs and no cream. The three winning elements are milk, flavored syrup, and seltzer. For an icy beverage like top soda jerks used to craft, it's best to frost glasses in the freezer.

Can candy be too sweet? Not for us! The real delight of this sweet, sweet pairing of fluffy nougat and shredded coconut is what professional taste-testers call mouthfeel. The airy nougat softens, the coconut and almonds crunch, and the hefty milk chocolate shell melts and coats your palate with feel-good chocolate.

I know deep-fried doughnuts don't strictly count as baking, but I've included them here because they start with a dough, and they taste too good to leave out, especially made with a chocolate ganache filling instead of the ususal jam.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Milk Chocolate Cup-of-Fluffs . Milk chocolate's flavor, while less powerful than that of dark chocolate, is just as precious. Choose a premium brand with 38 to 50 percent cacao.

Few travel experiences are more American than eating dessert at a roadside diner. My order? A slice of banana cream pie: the topping whipped high, the creamy filling offering comfort far from home. To elevate this classic in my own kitchen, I add sliced bananas to the hot (and simple) custard to infuse it with flavor. And did I mention chocolate's involved? It's my take on diner deluxe. —Janet Taylor McCracken

When adding the caramel to the popcorn and peanuts, work quickly and thoroughly to coat the other ingredients before it hardens.

Ellsworth Kelly's enormous sculpture, Stele 1, was the anchor in the Rooftop Garden when we opened our café in 2009. A 1-inch-thick oblong steel plate weighing seven tons and rising eighteen feet into the air perched on one narrow end, the sculpture seemed to defy gravity. The deep rust-colored patina of the Corten steel was an incredible contrast against gray volcanic stone walls of the Rooftop Garden and the stunning art deco Pacific Bell building that towers over the east side of the museum. Of course, I thought the piece looked like an enormous slab of chocolate. Trying to figure out a dessert based on the sculpture, I played with various truffle recipes and cakes baked in oblong pans, but nothing was giving me the rich matte color and texture of the weathered steel. One day I was chatting with the museum's brilliant and witty social media guru, Ian Padgham, about Stele 1, and I asked him what the sculpture reminded him of. "A Fudgsicle, of course!" he said. And, so it was. I found some silicone ice-pop molds in the shape of the sculpture and developed a creamy, rich chocolatey base with a touch of natural cocoa powder to give the frozen fudge pops the reddish matte finish of Corten steel.

Served warm, these not-too-sweet brownies beg to go à la mode.

The ongoing love affair with salted caramel is here to stay because it's so darn good. A quick dip in chocolate, along with a tiny sprinkle of sea salt, can only make these modern marshmallows that much more enticing. For a more traditional take on marshmallows, see our recipe for Homemade Marshmallows . And see Make Your Own Marshmallows for additional recipes and tips.

If these minty, chocolate-dipped marshmallows remind you of a certain popular candy, you're right—we had them in mind, because they're one of our favorites. But we're also very fond of this chewy, lighter-than-air incarnation. For a more traditional take on marshmallows, see our recipe for Homemade Marshmallows . And see Make Your Own Marshmallows for additional recipes and tips.

Jumbo shrimp. Airline food. Boneless ribs. Fuzzy logic. Some words just don't seem to belong together. I'm betting you'd say healthy brownie falls into that category. Au contraire! How do I know that isn't the case? Because there was a lot of "yumming" in my kitchen as a gaggle of brownie aficionados devoured these. Refined white sugar out; Grade B maple syrup in. See ya white flour; hello almond flour and brown rice flour. Fare-thee-well butter; come-on-down olive oil! Add dark chocolate, walnuts, and cinnamon, and the result is a decadent culinary oxymoron for the ages.

Sweeten movie night by whipping up a batch of these treats for your friends. Cherries and oat flour add fiber to make them extra filling.

Who doesn’t love chocolate cake? This one is moist, dense, rich, and naturally gluten-free.

There's nothing as delightful as a towering stack of fluffy pancakes. Unless those pancakes happen to be reminiscent of your favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream. The green food coloring here is optional but adds nicely to the appeal.

Dark chocolate and espresso add the slightly bitter notes needed to balance this dessert. Remember, the higher the cacao percentage, the less sweet the chocolate.

We get a little weak-kneed with delight around cakes, particularly cakes whimsically shaped to look like something else—in this case, a Yule log. Made famous in France as Bûches de Noël, these sheet cakes, filled, rolled, and frosted to look like the trunks of trees, complete with the stumps of sawed off branches, provide creative cooks the very real opportunity to play with their food. Want a few woodsy meringue mushrooms made from meringue to continue the conceit? Why not? No offense to the French, but we think this Italian version, brushed with an espresso syrup, filled with whipped cream lightened mascarpone cheese, and encased in a serious chocolate ganache, which lends itself well to sculpting, is just about the best we've ever had. Buttercream frosting is good—we know only too well from licking many bowls of it clean—but ganache is easier to make and even better to eat! Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for A Christmas Classic. Menu also includes Herb-Crusted Beef Rib Roast with Potatoes, Carrots, and Pinot Noir Jus and Green Beans with Caramelized Pecans .