Kahlua

My weakness for ice cream is well known, and the name of this drink says it all.

The base for this fun frozen dessert cocktail can be prepared up to one month ahead. Keep a batch in your freezer for an almost-instant treat.

Kate makes the chocolate sauce with homemade liqueur.

Mexican coffee is spiked with Kahlúa, but in these simple puddings, the liqueur is on top, whipped into cream.

A bit of cardamom gives this dessert its exotic flavor. The pudding needs to chill about five hours before serving, so be sure to plan ahead.

Three great ways to keep warm — coffee, hot chocolate, and bourbon — in a single mug.

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.

This recipe calls for semisweet chocolate; try a Mexican chocolate such as cinnamon-flavored Ibarra from Guadalajara if you can. If using Ibarra, omit the cinnamon sticks and brown sugar.

Louise Pickerel of Muskogee, Oklahoma, writes: "The hot chocolate with coffee and hazelnut liqueurs here is my version of a restaurant recipe. I call it a "chocolate bar," and it does make a nice, lighter alternative to dessert after a filling meal. It's also something good to curl up with in front of the fire." Warming and full of holiday cheer.