Mousse

In an intriguing play on the combination of chocolate and chiles, this rich mousse gets its faint tingle from Sichuan peppercorns.

The trick here is that instead of beating egg whites into peaks, you whip the chocolate and egg together in a blender. Salmonella from underdone eggs is rare, but if you're concerned about partly uncooked yolks, skip this for the kids and save it for the adults.

We imagine that biting into a cloud would be a lot like savoring a mouthful of this mousse, which dissolves gently into traces of coconut on the tongue. After the extravaganza of ingredients in the meal, this single-note dessert tastes so right.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Greg Case's and Keri Fisher's One Cake, One Hundred Desserts. To read Epicurious's review of the cookbook, click here. One of the best things about this mousse is that it's very simple, with only a handful of ingredients and a few steps. Yet the mousse is so versatile—not to mention so tasty—you'll soon find yourself whipping some up to fill a graham cracker crust for chocolate mousse pie, or to serve on its own, topped with some fresh raspberries for an elegant dessert. Or you could just eat it right out of the bowl with a soupspoon, as we do. Be careful when combining the chocolate and the whipped cream. Whipping the cream adds lots of air and volume to it, and overworking it when adding to the chocolate will allow all that air to escape (and then you'll have chocolate sauce, not mousse.

Editor's note: This recipe is from Michele Adams's and Gia Russo's book Wedding Showers: Ideas & Recipes for the Perfect Party.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Jacques Torres's Dessert Circus at Home. The first time I ever saw a moose was in Atlanta. Kris and I were in an antiques store. I saw antlers out of the corner of my eye and wondered if there was a real moose in the store. I am sad to tell you that while he was real, he was not alive. I promised myself I would visit a place where I would be able to see moose in their natural habitat. I think they are such magnificent animals and I adore their comical faces. I'm making this moose until I get to see them for real!

The sweet and tangy apricot sauce that anchors this dessert is a nod to the spoon sweets — fruit preserves that are eaten from small spoons — traditionally served in Greece to arriving guests.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

We liked this particular recipe with Lindt or Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate, which is around 50 percent cocoa solids. We tested the ganache with chocolate containing a higher percentage, and found the flavor too intense and the consistency less velvety. Active time: 1 3/4 hr Start to finish: 5 hr

When my Scottish stepmother married my father, in 1963, she had a lot to learn about cooking. Once she made my father what she thought was a charming American variety of onion for dinner; they turned out to be bulbs of garlic. She's come a long way since then, providing our family with increasingly exotic taste memories influenced by years of living in Mexico and Brazil. The secret to a good fool, whatever the fruit, is to taste as you go. Some need more sugar; any fruit with little acidity benefits from a smidgen of lemon or lime juice; and more delicate flavors, like mango, require less cream. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr (includes chilling)

Lingonberries grow wild in forests all over Scandinavia — they have a tartness similar to cranberries but with an earthy, pinelike undertone.

Gregg Thompson of St. Joseph, Missouri, writes, "A good many years ago, my wife and I enjoyed a beefy curried mousse at Snaffles restaurant in Dublin. The recipe was published in You Asked for It in your January 1972 issue. It's a wonderful dish that I have continued to enjoy through the years, and I believe it should be resurrected." Active time: 5 min Start to finish: 8 hr This is a great hors d'oeuvre to make the night before it's served, and it's best when made with the freshest garlic you can find.

White chocolate plus dark chocolate equals the ultimate combination. Here's a dessert sandwich of white and dark chocolate hearts filled with luscious chocolate mousse. Keep the hearts cold as you work with them (and until serving) to prevent breakage.