Mousse

If you like chicken liver mousse, you'll definitely want to try this recipe, which uses a completely different method than most. Puréeing the chicken livers and then baking them in a hot water bath results in an extremely tender spread.

Mexican chocolate and white rum add up to more than your average chocolate mousse.

Nobody is indifferent to sea urchin roe: You either love it or hate it. Personally, its rich and sexy taste is my favorite flavor on earth. Until I tried the extraordinary mousse invented by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, I preferred it raw. Now I know better. The best sea urchin roe comes from southern California, and is sold in little wooden trays at Japanese markets. It is extremely fragile. It's important to use very fresh roe with a clean, ripe, rather fruity scent.

Basil Tsiokos of Newburgh, New York, writes: "My best friend and I recently spent a week at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, a spa resort near Scottsdale, Arizona. Our goal was major exercise and minor calories, but on the last night we splurged at Elements with the richest dessert we could find — slices of chocolate-glazed frozen peanut butter mousse." Don't use natural-style peanut butter for this recipe; do start making it the day before serving.

This terrine is a beautiful — and unusual — way to showcase fresh summer vegetables. While there's nothing like truly fresh peas, if what's available seems particularly starchy, use frozen instead.

To make the shortbread cookie crumbs for the crust, seal the cookies in a heavy plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into fine crumbs.

Layers of chocolate mousse made with gianduja, the luscious Italian hazelnut-flavored milk chocolate, and chocolate genoise top a base of hazelnut crunch. Do-aheads: cake layer, 1 day; assembled cake, 2 days.

With no pastry crust to wrangle, these luscious parfaits of pumpkin mousse and cream are easier to make than pumpkin pie. Start making this dessert at least one day before you plan to serve it.

Be sure to use high-quality chocolate here — the flavor really comes through.

Offer some butter cookies alongside this dessert, which makes a lovely presentation.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

For this dessert a dramatic shape can be achieved by using molds made from foil. The mousses are equally delicious, of course, when made in 3/4-cup ramekins — they just won't be as tall.

In this recipe there will be extra mousse and pecan crisps (the recipes will not work if reduced). Both elements are delicious on their own.