Candy

This delicious and slightly exotic Indian-influenced candy incorporates a blend of cashews, pistachios, and almonds in a golden brittle sweetened with honey and lightly spiced with cardamom.

These spoons add a hint of peppermint when stirred into a cup of hot cocoa.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Truffles : 50 Deliciously Decadent Homemade Chocolate Treats _by Dede Wilson. Cacao beans, from which we get all our wonderful chocolate, are now available in raw form. Called cacao (or cocoa) nibs, they look like tiny brown nuggets similar in shape to kasha or buckwheat groats. Cacao nibs are not sweet, but they have an intense chocolate flavor unlike any other product. In this recipe, they are steeped in cream to add flavor to the ganache and chopped for use as a topping._

These are also great tossed into a salad of bitter greens, over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or as a garnish for crème caramel or panna cotta.

Virtually every island has some kind of coconut industry, since there's a use for every part of the coconut, from soap to cooking oil to mattress stuffing. Here, the fresh "meat" is used in a classic candy. There are many variations on this tasty treat, which is sold on the street and in grocery stores, where it's usually homemade.

Who can resist rich chocolate with roasted pecans and butter-rum caramel? Melting the chocolate in stages insures that it will set. If you wish, the alcohol can be omitted.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Jacques Torres's Dessert Circus at Home. To read more about Torres and his chocolate factory, click here. This is a candy everyone likes. Truffles are quite simple to make, and the process will be more fun if you have a friend to help you. Time is the biggest element in this recipe. It will be easier if you have the tempered chocolate ready and all the desired toppings spread out on parchment paper-covered baking sheets. Be sure to use a good bittersweet chocolate. Once I was giving a class on truffles. Most places have the big professional immersion blenders available for me to use. I started making the ganache, and while it was mixing I pulled the mixer up a little too far, which caused the chocolate to be sprayed everywhere by the blade. I quickly dropped the blade back into the chocolate and looked down at my clothes. I was in my white chef's coat, but when I saw my clean coat, I started to smile. I like to be clean when I'm working. Then I looked at the audience in the front row. They were all licking themselves! Be careful when working with chocolate!

This barfi is a fudge is made with cashew nuts that have been soaked in water.

Tip: Trim chocolate desserts of high-fat, high-cal extras like crust.

Joe Miller of Glasgow, Montana, writes: "Though this recipe was introduced to me by a college friend from Anchorage, it originated — generations ago — in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, it is a Miller family tradition." Featuring the crunch of toffee, the creaminess of chocolate (a combination of milk and bittersweet), and a finishing sprinkle of walnuts, this sweet snack has all the bases covered.

A perfect ending to a Valentine's Day dinner, these bite-size confections are like miniature candy bars — only better. Plus, they keep for a week.

Holiday spices and molasses give these chocolate truffles seasonal charm.

Jewel-like gelées are the darlings of pastry chefs at the moment. They also happen to be easy to make at home.

Add a little drama to the Fresh Orange Tart with Hazelnut Crust with a garnish of candied blood orange slices.

Editor's note: This recipe is adapted from Gabrielle Carbone, coproprietor of The Bent Spoon ice cream parlor in Princeton, New Jersey. These peels add a wonderful, bright flavor to our Lemon Ice Cream, but this technique can also be used to make candied lime or grapefruit peel. The recipe can be doubled or tripled to make a bigger batch. Try dipping the peels in bittersweet chocolate for a delicious treat. Because you'll be eating the peel, it's especially important to use an organic lemon (which won't have been sprayed with pesticides) in this recipe. If you must use a regular lemon, scrub it vigorously to clean the outside as thoroughly as possible.