Dark Chocolate Christmas Desserts

Less sugar and more cocoa solids. In a recipe that means bittersweet chocolate in the 60 to 72 percent range instead of semisweet, cocoa that is Dutch-processed or black rather than natural, and a lighter hand with the sugar so the chocolate carries the flavor. Black Cocoa takes it furthest: a near-black crumb with little to no food coloring and a smooth, low-acidity taste that stays intense without turning bitter.

In anything that already calls for Dutch-process, yes. Both are alkalized, so they behave the same with baking powder and baking soda, and a straight swap gives you a near-black bake with little to no food coloring. Our favorite move is half and half: Dutch-Process brings the rich, rounded chocolate and its 22-24% cocoa butter, Black Cocoa brings the color. In a recipe built on natural cocoa and baking soda, keep the natural cocoa, since the soda needs its acidity to lift the batter.

Because coffee makes chocolate taste more like chocolate. A teaspoon or two of Espresso Powder in a torte, a mousse or a cake batter deepens the chocolate without adding a coffee flavor of its own. It dissolves completely, so there is no grit in a mousse and nothing to strain. Leave it out and the dessert is still good; put it in and people ask what you did.

Most of the ones on this page. Mousse, pots de creme and pudding need hours in the fridge anyway, so make them a day or two ahead, and cheesecake is better on day two. A ganache tart keeps for two days chilled; add any whipped cream when you serve it. A yule log can be baked, filled and rolled the day before, then frosted on the day so the bark looks fresh. Flourless cakes keep covered at room temperature for two days and freeze well in slices.

Roll it warm. As soon as the sponge comes out of the oven, turn it onto a clean towel dusted with cocoa, peel off the parchment, and roll the cake up inside the towel from the short end. Let it cool rolled so it sets in that shape, then unroll, fill and roll again. A thin sponge baked just until it springs back, and no longer, is the other half of the trick. If it cracks anyway, the frosting is bark, and nobody will know.

A flourless cake is held up by eggs and chocolate, so it settles a little as it cools, and that is normal. Deep cracks mean it was overbaked or cooled too fast. Pull it when the center still wobbles slightly, let it cool in the turned-off oven with the door cracked, or bake it in a water bath for a gentler, more even heat. A dusting of powdered sugar or a spoon of ganache covers whatever happens, which is why so many of these recipes finish that way.