Summer is a great season for making desserts with fine chocolate. Flour can mute chocolate's distinctive flavor, so cakes are not always the best way to showcase it. Chilled desserts such as mousse, ice cream and cold soufflé do a better job. They also happen to be what people crave when the weather is warm.

If you need to make a dessert in a hurry, put together a chocolate sundae pie in a simple nut crust. For an even quicker option, dress up ice cream with chopped fine chocolate, toasted nuts and summer fruit. Instead of grabbing a bag of chocolate sprinkles or chocolate chips for the garnish, try something a bit more exotic, like dark chocolate with crystallized orange peel or chocolate accented with green tea and ginger or with acai.

When I'm using fine chocolate in an ice cream, I keep the secondary flavors delicate. Vanilla beans are the classic partner for chocolate, but there are many others. For cappuccino chocolate ice cream, I steep cinnamon sticks and coffee beans in milk and cream, and then strain it to make the custard base for the ice cream. I use fresh mint leaves and toasted almonds to make subtly flavored bases for chocolate mint and chocolate almond ice creams.

Ice cream may top most lists of summertime chocolate favorites, but chocolate mousse is a close second. I like to combine both concepts to make frozen chocolate mousse. Rich as well as refreshing, it tastes even more chocolaty than ice cream. Besides, frozen chocolate mousse is easy to prepare and doesn't need an ice cream machine. Turn it out of a ring mold and spoon fresh berries into the center for a festive presentation, or simply serve it out of cups or ramekins.

CHOCOLATE AT A GLANCE

Dark chocolate may be labeled semisweet, bittersweet or extra-bittersweet, but the more precise labels list percentages such as 60, 70 or higher. These percentages indicate how much pure cocoa bean is in the chocolate; the rest is sugar and sometimes milk solids. Chocolates with a higher number are less sweet.

I find that 60 percent dark chocolate works well in recipes calling for semisweet, and 60 percent to 70 percent works in those that call for bittersweet.

White chocolate is sweet with no bitterness because it contains no cocoa powder; it is made of cocoa butter, milk and sugar.

HOW TO MELT CHOCOLATE

Stove Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set above a pan of hot water. Do not cover the chocolate. Set the pan over low heat. Stir occasionally as the chocolate melts. Lift it off the pan of hot water as soon as the chocolate has melted.

Microwave — Put the chopped chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave uncovered on 50 percent power. Check frequently — microwaved chocolate can easily scorch because it holds its shape and doesn't look "melted." When the pieces feel soft to a spoon, remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the chocolate until smooth.

In liquid — If you are melting chocolate in liquid, as when making sauce, you can heat the chocolate in the liquid in a heavy saucepan directly over very low heat.