Recipes

Because rice pudding is an edible American icon, I have purposely made this a very basic recipe. It's a wonderful way to use up leftover plain cooked rice. Add your own favorite spices or 1/2 teaspoon almond, coconut, maple, or rum extract, along with the vanilla extract.

The unusual flavoring for this cake is lemon zest. It is used in both the light, moist cake and the milk chocolate ganache and it delicately perfumes and complements both. It works because the lemon zest, which is rich in the essential oil of lemon, transmits a lemon perfume without any of the acidity of lemon juice, which would mar the chocolate flavor.

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Liqueur

These luscious liquids are among chocolate's crowning glories. Rich, gleaming sauces and foamy drinks are treats to be savored in conjunction with plain desserts or to put rich ones over the top. This is one of those really rich hot fudge sauces that hardens as it hits ice cream. It's great to use as the sauce for a brownie sundae!

Italian Cream Cake