Just like a little black holiday dress, this creamy mousse is classic, popular and unfailingly dependable during the festive party season. It's an ideal recipe to have on hand and a perfect addition to your repertoire of go-to recipes for easy entertaining. Not only is the mousse a snap to prepare, it's extremely versatile -- elegant enough for a fancy party and simple enough for a fireside dinner. The ingredients are minimal and may be easily purchased in advance and stored in the refrigerator, ready to be mixed up at a moment's notice or a surprise guest's arrival.

The salty, smoky fish is fluffed and brightened with cream cheese and lemon, then crowned with crunchy toasted almonds and fresh chives. The flavor is so addictively good you might want to double up on the quantities, so you can make a separate stash for yourself -- it will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days. Serve the pate smeared on baguette slices or pumpernickel rounds, or with crudites for dipping. And don't hold back on the almonds. Their nutty flavor and crunchy texture are key to the success of these small bites. Smoked mackerel may be substituted for the trout.

Smoked Trout Mousse

Active time: 15 minutes

Total time: 15 minutes

Yield: makes about 2 cups

Mousse

8 ounces smoked trout (or mackerel), skin and any bones removed

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup coarsely grated yellow onion with juices

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for garnish

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Thinly sliced European-style pumpernickel squares, rounds or baguette slices

1/3 cup almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped

Chopped chives

Process all the mousse ingredients in the bowl of a food processor until light and smooth. If too thick, add a little more lemon juice. Taste and add a little salt if desired. Transfer to a bowl. To serve, smear on pumpernickel bread or baguette slices and garnish with the almonds and chives.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

Inspiration comes in many packages. These chocolate orange pots de creme are the result of a baking mistake. I set out to make them for a recent dinner party, but I forgot to cover the ramekins while they baked in the oven. Covering the ramekins allows the chocolate to set without a thicker top crust forming and detracting from a smooth and creamy consistency throughout the entire pudding.

My pots de creme were smooth and creamy on the inside, but the top had a firmer mottled texture. The taste was the same, but not the look. So I decided to cover the surface with a granular topping, which would provide a pleasing and distracting crunch while hiding my mistake. I rubbed the zest of an orange into a bowl of sugar. The sugar helped to separate the grains of zest, while the orange added a colorful tinge to the sugar.

To serve, I garnished each ramekin with a dollop of whipped cream and showered the cream and chocolate with the orange sugar. To top it off, I sprinkled a few grains of fleur de sel over each, although any sea salt is fine. It was delicious. The orange sugar added a confectionary crunch before dissolving in the mouth, leaving a lingering wisp of sea salt. I love it when delicious mistakes like this happen.

You will need to begin making this dessert one day before serving to allow the chocolate to set overnight.

Chocolate Orange Pots de Creme With Fleur de Sel

Active Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, plus overnight chilling

Yield: Makes 6 (3/4 cup/6-ounce) ramekins

Pots de creme:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet dark chocolate, finely chopped

6 large egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (optional)

Orange sugar:

Finely grated zest from one untreated navel orange

1/3 cup sugar

Fleur de Sel (or flakes of another sea salt, such as Maldon)

Make the pots de creme: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan over medium until it just begins to simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the chocolate until melted and smooth.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until blended. Add the cream to the eggs in a steady stream, whisking constantly to combine. Stir in the orange liqueur, if using, and then strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool 5 minutes, then pour the mixture into 6 (3/4 cup) ramekins.

Place the ramekins in a baking pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the ramekins with foil and transfer to oven. Bake until the mousse is set but still a little wobbly when jiggled, about 55 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the water bath, remove the foil and cool completely on a wire rack.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Before serving, make the whipped cream: Beat the cream in a bowl of an electric mixer until traces of the whisk appear. Add the sugar and Grand Marnier and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Chill until use.

Make the orange sugar: Combine the zest and sugar in a small bowl and rub with your fingers to evenly distribute the zest.

To serve, evenly sprinkle the orange sugar over each ramekin. Top with a dollop of cream in the center, and sprinkle with additional sugar and a few grains of fleur de sel.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

I discovered persimmons when I lived in Europe, where they are commonly known as sharon fruit. They were a mystery to me at first, these orange, tomato-shaped creatures -- how to eat them? Skin or no skin? I quickly learned to enjoy persimmons in their entirety, with their taught, crisp skin giving way to dribbling soft, honey-sweet flesh.

Now I live in California, where persimmon trees grow in our garden. In the fall, when the leaves are still intact, the persimmon trees are at their prettiest. Their fruit continues to ripen, and their pumpkin-orange skin is striated with shades of gold and sage, while the robust leaves are streaked in crimson. Come winter, when the leaves have fallen, the fruit continues to cling to the barren branches, dangling like forgotten Christmas ornaments, ripe for plucking.

There are two types of persimmons: the round, squat fuyu and the more upright, heart-shaped hachiya. The hachiya must be eaten at its ripest, when it's incredibly squishy, to avoid its astringent, unripened flesh. It's best to enjoy a hachiya as a big juicy slurp with a napkin in hand, or blending its pulp into baked goods. Unlike the hachiya, the fuyu is not astringent, so it may be eaten firm or soft. I enjoy the firmness of fuyus when their consistency is similar to a crisp pear. At this stage, they hold their shape well and have a soft sweetness, which makes them a great addition to salads and salsas. The firm fuyu fruit can also be grated and mixed into baked goods -- just as you would grate a carrot into cakes -– such as in this teacake.

Persimmon Olive Oil Teacake

Active Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 70 minutes

Yield: 1 loaf

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup coarsely grated fuyu persimmon, packed, about 2 persimmons

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or oil a loaf pan.

Whisk the flour, almond flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugars until light and fluffy, then whisk in the oil and vanilla. Add the flour ingredients and stir to just combine without overmixing. Stir in the persimmon and walnuts.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes clean, about 1 hour, depending on the shape of the pan. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS