Make Room for Chocolate in Thanksgiving Desserts Chocolate soufflé cake with candied squash compote. WE all know that everything is better with chocolate, so why not Thanksgiving? Among the holiday's traditional desserts, seasonal flavors rightly loom large: pumpkins, apples, pears, persimmons, nuts. Chocolate doesn't really feature. But a little chocolate can only make things better. And don't fret about tradition. After all, when was the last time you went to a Thanksgiving meal with only one dessert? (Me? Never.) So I say this year, let at least one of the many offerings include something rich and dark and fudgy. Even if you're not a chocolate lover yourself, someone at the table will be. And they will be ever so thankful. Any of the recipes here will accomplish the goal. You'll notice that not one of them is trying to reinvent the classics. As every cook knows, the attachment to one's family's Thanksgiving recipes runs deep. Making a case for a black-bottomed pumpkin pie to replace your great-aunt's sacred recipe (even if it was from the back of the evaporated milk can) would be futile. Instead, I wanted to come up with chocolate-laced desserts that would gracefully accompany your family's favorites. Thinking about plethora of pies that are inevitable during the holiday, coming up with an ice cream to make them à la mode was my first priority. The idea of chocolate ice cream melting on top of a warm apple crisp, however, didn't feel quite right. But copious chunks of bittersweet chocolate folded into, say, a custard base perfumed with good, dark rum and dotted with rum-soaked dried cranberries was another matter entirely. I could see it perched on a slice of pecan, apple or even pumpkin pie, dripping lusciously down the sides. Although I chose rum here (inspired by rum raisin ice cream), any dark brown spirit will work - particularly Bourbon or brandy. Or if you want to leave out the booze, substitute orange juice and stir a little grated orange zest into the custard as it cooks. Next, I tackled revamping the richest, fudgiest, most intense chocolate dessert I know: the chocolate soufflé cake. Serving it all by itself is perfectly fine. But jazzing it up with a topping of whipped crème fraîche and candied, cinnamon-scented butternut squash makes it stunningly autumnal. Finally, I added coconut and pecans to a buttery chocolate shortbread crust and baked it until the whole thing was glossy and crisp on top. It tasted a little like pecan pie, a little like a candy bar and a lot like a celebration. Which is just what you want for Thanksgiving.