Rum

Cloves, ginger, and turbinado sugar make this a cake you'll adore. Plus, try the frosting on a variety of baked goods for a taste of the tropics all year.

This tasty pineapple rum cocktail is everything a tropical drink should be: sweet, fruity, and icy cold.

Unless you happen to be a professional bartender, this cocktail might require buying raspberry syrup and orange bitters at the very least. But when potent and refreshing is the order of the day, you'll be glad you stocked up.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month.

Editor's Note: This recipe was originally part of a menu by Bobby Flay for a backyard barbecue. For the complete menu and Flay's tips on throwing a party, click here. Ripe pineapple, with its plentiful natural sugars, is ideal for grilling, and it screams "tropical" like nothing else. This makes a great dessert after spicy Latin, Indian, or Caribbean food. Make sure to let the slices brown; you want lots of those caramelized, almost burnt edges. Mascarpone is a smooth Italian dairy product with a texture somewhere between whipped cream and cream cheese. It's used in tiramisù and available in many supermarkets and gourmet stores, but if you can't find it, good-quality vanilla ice cream will taste just fine.

One fall afternoon, my sons and I decided to tailgate out at Randall's Island. This is a unique tailgating experience. Randall's is one of two islands off Manhattan (Ward's Island is the other) devoted to ball fields of all kinds. I cooked this lamb at one of the grills the city provides there, and we ate on an adjacent picnic table overlooking the East River. We then wandered around the more than two dozen fields, watching intensely played games of soccer, baseball, cricket, flag football, and the tail end of a rugby match. Only in New York.

Happily, we found that the only word which rhymes with Clicquot was a tasty white rum.

We recommend using a good-quality California or Spanish sparkling wine for this punch. Both are widely available and less expensive than Champagne.

Editor's note: The recipe below is part of a healthy and delicious spa menu developed exclusively for Epicurious by Lake Austin Spa Resort. This is arguably Mexico's most famous special occasion cake. Tres leches means three milks — typically heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk. Our version opts for a lighter more tropical soaking — reduced-fat coconut milk, fat-free sweetened condensed milk, and skim milk. You would think that all of this fluid infusion would turn the cake to sodden disintegration. But, in fact, it absorbs the liquids beautifully, much as does the equatorial earth absorb a sudden downpour. Accompanied by rum-caramelized bananas and topped with toasted coconut, this cake has become our most popular new dessert.

The all-American soda fountain classic gets a fabulous tropical makeover.

This variation on the classic Piña Colada is served at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico; it's finished with a dark rum float for extra flavor.

Complete the tropical scene by garnishing these pink drinks with paper umbrellas or (unsprayed) orchids.

Selma Hurwitz of Potomac, Maryland, writes: "I'm an artist, and I think that without question cooking is very creative. You can't be afraid to experiment in the kitchen. I often get ideas from cookbooks and recipes from friends, and I'll add my own touches. The apple cake is inspired by a cookbook from Michigan — I just added more rum and spices. Both recipes are great for company and freeze beautifully."

Three gifts in one: a mini cheesecake, the pan it comes in, and a jar of homemade caramel sauce on the side. Keep in mind that the cakes need to chill overnight.

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

The cake takes its name from the wife of Jack Turner's former headmaster, but the recipe is reportedly an ancient Scottish one. Aluminum foil stands in for the traditional newspaper.

Even if you're not an eggnog lover, you're going to love this custardy ice cream. Freshly grated nutmeg and the rounded complexity of dark rum lend it a rich flavor — plus a lovely aroma that will put you in the holiday spirit while you make dessert.