Airy chocolate soufflé satisfies summer sweet tooths at Le Titi de Paris. Recipe: Bittersweet Chocolate Souffle

“In the summer, people go more for seasonal tastes,” says Pastry Chef Paul Zang of Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro in Boston. “If I just put something on the menu that’s chocolate with a heavy sauce, it’s not as appetizing to them.”

Instead, Zang uses subtle floral and herbal accents to breathe fresh air into recipes such as bittersweet chocolate tarts, draped with cool strawberry sorbet for a splash of color and sweetness. For the tart’s filling, dried lavender is infused into heavy cream, which is mixed with sugar, melted chocolate and egg yolks. In another version, dried thyme and lemon zest perk up palates in a similar manner.

“It has the same effect as sprinkling fresh herbs on a bowl of pasta,” Zang says. “It adds some freshness and kind of tricks your taste buds to make it feel lighter.”

Operators looking to lighten and brighten chocolate desserts can find plenty of additional strategies that play to summer seasonality without straying too far from the classic flavors and presentations that customers favor. Some ideas are simple but high-impact—introducing ripe berries, creamy puddings and mousses, or frosty ice creams and sorbets—while others are more complex.

At XIX Nineteen at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue, Pastry Chef Dan Pino downsizes chocolate layer cake to create a twist on Black Forest cake that is still rich but not as hefty.

Lavender-infused cream enlivens a bittersweet-chocolate tart at Beacon Hill Bistro. TRY THESE R&I RECIPES: Bittersweet Chocolate Souffle Black Forest Malt Café Au Lait Crème Brûlée Cappuccino White Chocolate Tiramisu Chocolate and Vietnamese Coffee Tart Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding Chocolate Chipotle Bread Pudding Chocolate Cremoso with Sea Salt, Olive Oil, Sourdough Crostini and Espresso Parfait Chocolate Fresh Fruit Tart Chocolate Fudge Brownies Chocolate Gooey Cake >> Search for more

Fortunately, cake desserts that make appealing warm-weather choices don’t have to be quite so labor-intensive. For another recipe, Pino simply steams devil’s-food cake rather than baking it.

“You don’t have that dark caramelization, that heaviness. It’s light and fluffy,” he says. “Unlike the regular oven, which dehydrates, this adds moisture, so you can’t go wrong. Even if you leave it in a little too long, it’s still fine.”

Though devil’s food cake tends to be especially rich, the extra moisture gained from adding buttermilk and using melted chocolate rather than cocoa powder makes the recipe a good choice for summer, Pino says. He livens up each slice with micro-lemon-verbena-and-berry salad, raspberry-chocolate sorbet and thick, vanilla-infused yogurt.

At Pacific Northwest-themed bistro Paley’s Place in Portland, Ore., 
Pastry Chef Lauren Fortgang goes the opposite route, using a recipe akin to angel food cake to create chocolate shortcake. Egg whites are whipped to stiff peaks while sugar is gradually whisked in, and then the mixture is blended with a batter of cake flour, cocoa powder, more sugar and egg yolks. The airy cake is layered with whipped cream and assorted berries.

The layered approach also works for Pastry Chef Susan VandenBerg at Gracie’s in Providence, R.I., where a summer trifle spotlights chocolate sabayon, sponge cake and strawberries.

For the sabayon, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, water, orange liqueur and egg yolks are whisked together over a bain-marie until thickened, at which point bittersweet chocolate is whisked in. While the chocolate blend cools, heavy cream is whipped to soft peaks and then folded into the sabayon.

The frothy custard alternates in layers in a wide, footed bowl with sponge cake that is spiked with orange zest, orange syrup and diced strawberries.

Ice-cream desserts are an easy sell in summertime, and approaches that venture beyond the standards garner extra attention. Mint Chocolate Crêpes, a seasonal special last summer at Ormond Beach, Fla.-based dinnerhouse chain Stonewood Grill & Tavern, are one example of a cool dessert appropriate for a variety of foodservice segments.

Whipped egg whites lighten up angel-food-style chocolate shortcake at Paley’s Place.

VandenBerg’s Triple Chocolate Semifreddo at Gracie’s looks like a dressed-up version of old-fashioned Neapolitan ice cream. For the custard base, egg yolks are whisked with sugar and salt; scalded milk is mixed in gradually to temper. The mixture is whisked over a bain-marie until thickened, and then vanilla extract is added and the custard is chilled.

For each flavor, melted chocolate (dark, white or milk) is added to the base; whipped heavy cream is then folded in. One layer is chilled in a plastic-wrap-lined loaf pan (or individual ring molds) until firm, and then the next layer is added and the process is repeated. Once all three layers are firm, the semifreddo is frozen. To serve, the tricolor dessert is unmolded, sliced and garnished with fresh berries.

Recipe: Triple Chocolate Semifreddo

Desserts don’t get much more classic than milkshakes, but Executive Chef Todd Winer tailors the cool concoctions to adult tastes at The Met Bar & Grill in Natick, Mass. Any of the six shakes on the menu can be spiked with specialty spirits such as chocolate vodka, white-chocolate liqueur, banana-flavored rum and espresso-flavored vodka.

Even without the extra kick, top-shelf ingredients upgrade the diner favorite. The Met Shake, the best-selling selection, blends organic chocolate milk with house-made caramel ice cream (also made with organic milk) and ripples the combination with chocolate sauce. The North End, another nontraditional choice, calls for espresso, hazelnut-chocolate spread and house-made vanilla-bean ice cream.

The shakes already are a hot ticket after nine months on the menu—the restaurant sells 200 on busy weekends—and Winer expects even greater demand as the weather heats up.

“This is the first year our patio is open, so we’re anticipating selling a lot,” he says.

Ubiquitous crème brûlée is always a popular choice among customers looking for a less-filling finish to meals. At Louisville, Colo.-based Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, a stand-out version features an unexpected ingredient: brewed-on-site beer.

Chocolate sabayon, sponge cake and strawberries star in a summer trifle at Gracie's.

At Café Formaggio in Carle Place, N.Y., the best-selling dessert year-round delivers fresh flavors that entice diners in warm weather. Executive Chef and co-owner Joe Licata’s sweet, fruit-topped pizza starts with the same dough used for the Italian restaurant’s savory pies. Hazelnut-chocolate spread, drizzled caramel and a sprinkling of confectioners sugar blanket the crisp crust, which is crowned with sliced strawberries, bananas and apples.

“Everyone loves chocolate, and with the freshly cut fruit, it’s refreshing,” says Licata, who also serves a s’mores-inspired version that features brownies, marshmallows and walnuts.

Even in southern California, where warm days are a year-round luxury, Pastry Chef Michelle Bracken adapts desserts for the summer season. Her white-chocolate mousse at Zov’s Bistro, Cafe and Bakery in Tustin, Calif., is topped with fresh blackberries and raspberries and decorated with dark-chocolate squares. The petite confection rests atop a crunchy base of peanut butter mixed with cornflakes and melted white chocolate.

“It does well on the menu because it’s so different compared to typical chocolate desserts, especially among people who like peanut butter—that always perks their interest,” Bracken says.