Triple Sec

At Valentino, pastry chef Michelle Robie cuts the cake into individual heart shapes and sometimes serves them with a blood orange sauce.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Dark chocolate never goes out of fashion, but white chocolate was all the rage in the eighties. Foodies couldn't get enough, enjoying it in truffles, tarts and sumptuous ivory-colored mousses like this one.

Fools are traditionally prepared with pureed fruit mixed with whipped cream, or egg custard, or a combination of the two. (The term fool probably comes from the French fouler, meaning "to crush.") They seem to be especially successful when made with sharply flavored garden produce like rhubarb, gooseberries, and black currants, which still have enough bite to be interesting when blended with cream. But strawberries, which are much easier to find, also work quite nicely. Strawberry fool is best when the fruit is mashed rather than pureed, resulting in a more appealing texture. Serve it with cookies.

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

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.