Serves 8
Use your favorite pie dough or our recipe (related).

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
The majority of Thoroughbred Pie recipes that we prepared were far too sweet. We reduced the amount of sugar to almost half of what was called for in some recipes. Brown sugar contributed a hint of spice and depth, while more neutral white sugar ensured that the nuts and chocolate weren’t eclipsed. To bring more balance to the pie, we replaced semisweet chocolate chips with chopped bittersweet chocolate.

To give the top of our pie its trademark crunch, we went with cornstarch instead of the flour that we’d been using as a thickener. Removing some egg white from the recipe also helped. We settled on blind baking our pie crust to ensure that it didn’t come out of the oven underbaked. Sprinkling the chocolate over the still-warm crust provided a hit of intense chocolate in every bite.

Makes 12 cupcakes

You can substitute 3/4 cup hot coffee for the boiling water and instant espresso powder. For an accurate measurement of boiling water, bring a full kettle of water to a boil, then measure out the desired amount.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: A cupcake piled high with creamy chocolate buttercream frosting is the perfect single-serving dessert, yet on average it packs in more than 25 grams of fat, leaving plenty of room for improvement. To start, we tried a number of low-fat cupcake recipes that included “alternative” ingredients like prunes or applesauce, but they were overwhelmingly disappointing, giving us dry, crumbly cakes. Instead, we worked with a more traditional recipe and trimmed the fat by reducing the amount of chocolate and switching from butter to canola oil, which is lower in saturated fat. Adding a hefty dose of cocoa along with a bit of instant espresso powder boosted the chocolate flavor immensely, and swapping in bread flour for the all-purpose flour provided plenty of lift and structure to our lean batter. Finally, topping the cakes with a simple yet ultra-creamy frosting made of confectioners’ sugar instead of an over-the-top buttercream frosting helped to make these cupcakes a reasonable, yet still indulgent, treat.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/comfort-food-makeovers/2013/04/recipe-makeover-challenge-chocolate-cupcakes/

Serves 8 to 10

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Cool, creamy icebox cheesecake meets a salty, pucker-inspiring margarita. We bring the best of both worlds to center stage in our Margarita Cake. As the top glaze has the boozy kick of its namesake, this cake is a lively contribution to a grownups-only party.