TASTElist

The combination of coffee, cream, and booze is as good in a cocktail as it is in a milk shake, but we also like it mixed with puffed rice cereal and marshmallows—similar to a Rice Krispie Treat recipe. Add instant espresso powder to the crispy base, then glaze the top with a mixture of white chocolate, Kahlúa, and cream, for a sweet, coffee-infused treat.

Apples and warm spice have pretty much cornered the market as far as mulled ciders go, but swapping in pear is a pleasant change. Warm the hard cider in a big pot and steep it with ginger chunks, orange peel, and vanilla. Before serving, stir in some honey and a hefty dose of brandy. What to buy: There are varying qualities of hard pear cider on the market; look for one that has a distinct pear flavor and isn’t too sweet.

This make-at-home version of a coffee-shop pumpkin spice latte gets bonus points for using actual pumpkin, plus it’s spiked with rum. Plan ahead and make a batch of Homemade Pumpkin Spice Liqueur. When it’s ready, brew some coffee, add the liqueur, and top with a dollop of brown-sugar whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg. Serve steaming in mugs with Spiced Pumpkin-Pecan Pancakes to reach pumpkin brunch critical mass.

This chocolate cake recipe is delicious. We love a buttery and dense pound cake, but we thought a chocolate version would be even better so we folded lots of dark cocoa into the batter to give it a deep chocolate flavor. After the cake is baked and cooled, it’s drizzled with a chocolate glaze made from semisweet chocolate, cream, and a bit of corn syrup to keep the glaze gooey and shiny.

To get cheese to stick to popcorn, you need melted butter. The problem is, the melted butter makes the popcorn soggy. To solve this, we drizzle popcorn with some spicy butter, coat it with lots of finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese, then bake it in the oven for half an hour. The cheese melts and the popcorn gets crispy again. Serve this savory snack for happy hour with a mezcal–apple cider cocktail to wash it down.

Instead of whisking the ingredients by hand or hauling out the heavy stand mixer, let the blender do all the work in this easy eggnog recipe. Blend eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved, then add milk, rum, and bourbon. Finish by blending in heavy cream, and then let the eggnog chill in the refrigerator for an hour so the flavors come together. Serve with ice and freshly grated nutmeg on top.

This classic after-dinner drink is said to be an adaptation of a gin-based cocktail named the Alexander. While both are shaken with crème de cacao and heavy cream, this version has brandy swapped in for the gin. Sip this creamy tipple after the holiday feast as you chat on the couch with friends and family.

Herbal Yellow Chartreuse is shaken with orange liqueur, orange juice, and heavy cream in this frothy after-dinner drink. If you can’t find Yellow Chartreuse, you can use Galliano instead.

This fortified wine cocktail with deep caramel flavors is a twist on the Adonis cocktail, which usually uses fino sherry and sweet vermouth. Here, we stir together rich cream sherry, both dry and sweet vermouths, and some orange bitters, then garnish with an orange twist.

This light, delicate cocktail combines the dry, salty flavor of manzanilla sherry with herbaceous gin and floral elderflower liqueur. Stir together a few of these for guests as an elegant after-dinner drink. What to buy: Manzanilla sherry, made in the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in southern Spain, is a very dry sherry with a touch of saltiness from the sea. You can find it in the wine section of well-stocked grocery or liquor stores or online.

In this mulled cider recipe, apple cider is simmered with orange, honey, cloves, and cinnamon, then given a mild boozy kick from amontillado sherry added just before serving. Keep this sweet-smelling punch warm in a slow cooker at a holiday party or winter cocktail party, or let it simmer while you throw together our classic Pumpkin Pie recipe. What to buy: Amontillado sherry, made in the town of Jerez in southwestern Spain, is aged longer than fino (or dry) sherries.

One night I was enjoying a couple of these cocktails with a friend who got to the bottom of his glass quicker than expected. I warned him that the blend of fino sherry, citrus juice, Cointreau, and allspice liqueur is dangerously easy to gulp, explaining that I’d made that mistake before at the start of an evening and it was soon the end of me. He laughed and said, “Well, then this cocktail is your alpha and omega … your beginning and end!”