Frozen Dessert

(GELATO AL CIOCCOLATO) We tested this recipe with both regular and Dutch-process cocoa powders and loved both versions. The Dutch-process cocoa powder yields a slightly more intense flavor.

"By adding a little espresso powder to a recipe for caramel sauce, I created an ice cream topping that has made this sundae the signature dessert in my house I had always refused to share the recipe with friends who requested it, but I finally decided that it's too good to keep secret," says Gordon Finley of Durham, North Carolina. These are terrific made with coffee or vanilla ice cream — or both.

"My husband and I recently went to Chez Mimi in nearby Santa Monica," writes Randi Fine of Sherman Oaks, California. "We shared a luscious dessert called caramel chomeur, a cake baked atop caramel sauce and served with vanilla ice cream. I've searched my cookbooks, but I can't find a recipe close to it." Chef Mimi Hebert tells us that this dessert from the Great Depression era was called chomeur (from the French word for "unemployed") because it was inexpensive to make.

"The strawberry cream cake recipe from "A Swedish Midsummer Party" in your June 1997 issue reminded me of a dessert my grandmother, who was of Swedish descent, used to make," says Jill M. Kuhn of Sherman Oaks, California. An electric carving knife makes slicing this dessert a breeze.

For the prettiest parfaits, look for the reddest rhubarb possible at the supermarket or farmers market.

Alternating layers of strawberry and white chocolate mousses form stripes in this creamy frozen dessert.

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

A festive and refreshing dessert.

The vitamin C tablet in this recipe keeps the apple juice from turning brown.

Because they are prepared with purchased ice cream, these parfaits are super-easy to make. For a dramatic option, alternate layers of white and green mint ice creams.

Refreshing peppermint ice cream is sandwiched between the delicate heart-shaped meringues and then served in a pool of rich fudge sauce.

The contrasting colors of mango and boysenberry are lovely. If you like, serve the sorbets in frozen "mango boats," made by scooping out the centers of halved mangoes and freezing the shells.