Mousse

This luscious cake has two chocolate mousse fillings and a rich dark-chocolate topping.

Start this recipe six hours to one day ahead.

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

This dessert comes from Café Terra Cotta in Tucson, Arizona.

Melted miniature marshmallows are used to lighten and thicken this creamy mousse. Begin preparing it a day before serving.

Sweetening the mousse with honey adds a Provençal touch to a classic French dessert.

Crumbled amaretti add great crunch and nice almond flavor to this layered dessert.

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)

This light and airy mousse uses fat-free half and half with unexpectedly smooth results. You can spoon sliced, sugared strawberries over the top to add an extra-special touch of spring.

Also great layered with some sweetened mixed berries or other fruit and presented in parfait glasses.

At the Rob Roy Room of the Banff Springs Hotel at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, this delicious mousse comes in an elegant cookie basket.