• Is whipped cream really a "forgotten" ingredient?
• A famous Boston food landmark was destroyed by fire this week.
• The taste-testers at the Globe sample the best and worst store brownie mixes.
• The price of rice has gone up too.
• A new bar has opened in the Back Bay, but it actually has a long history already.
• What is the Wine Buying Horizon?
• Restaurant reviews: Fody's Great American Tavern and Foppiano's.
• This week's recipes: Whitefish Salad, Crab Cakes, Snowy Casserolly, Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote, and Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Sometimes I wonder how many different recipes there can be for one type of food. We post a lot of recipes here at Slashfood, and while some of the recipes are exotic and complex, some are for very basic foods that we've made and/or eaten hundreds of times over the years. Take Chocolate Pudding for example. If it's basic chocolate pudding, how many different ways are there to make it? I guess it's all in the chocolate you use.

This recipe is from The Joy of Cooking. I have to have it with whipped cream on top. I love that combo of chocolate and whipped cream you get when you sink your spoon in and have a bunch of each on your spoon and put it into your mouth.

Many of the Ice Cream holidays seem to be in July: National Ice Cream Day, National Ice Cream Soda Day, National Vanilla Ice Cream Day, even Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day. Today it's Hot Fudge Sundae Day.

Of course, there are many different definitions of a hot fudge sundae, and many ways to make them, depending on what you like. Here's one for an Italian Hot Fudge Sundae, which uses espresso and Amaretto. Here's a Hot Fudge Sundae Cake you can make, while CDKitchen has some Hot Fudge Sundae Brownies.

For a real basic recipe, check out eHow's step by step guide. But I would just go crazy and put together the ice cream and toppings you like. Nicole had a nice list of sundaes a while back and most of them including hot fudge.

The Cinnamon Dolce Latte is back on Starbucks menu boards as of a few days ago, although a friendly store or two may have started making the popular drinks just before the New Year if you were lucky. Cinnamon Dolce is typically an indulgent drink, made with espresso, steamed milk and a sweet syrup flavored with cinnamon, butter and brown sugar. The standard comes topped with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkles, as well. But due to the drink's popularity and the increasingly health-conscious customer base, Starbucks has introduced a sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce syrup this year as an alternative to the standard. It has the same flavors, but zero calories. Made with nonfat milk (and no whipped cream), a tall sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte has only 90 calories, an impressive reduction from a tall-sized regular CDL made with whipped cream and whole milk, which has 340 calories (260 without the whipped cream).

French toast always reminds me of bread pudding, albeit a single slice of bread pudding, because the bread is supposed to suck up the milk and egg mixture before it is fried, leaving a creamy, custardy center. Unfortunately, too many restaurants and chefs get so caught up in using outrageously thick bread that their custard never gets to the center of the bread and you end up getting served regular toast with egg and syrup, not french toast. I highly doubt that the talented Rachael, from Fresh Approach Cooking, made this mistake with her Holiday French Toast. A fan of decadent holiday treats, I'm guessing that she made sure that every bit of the vanilla-laced custard mixture was soaked up by the already rich challah bread she used, creating a perfect holiday breakfast. The toast is topped with honeyed whipped cream, lightly sauteed nectarines and fresh raspberries.

Without a doubt, the most striking thing about this photo of the Winemaker's Cake from Lex Culinaria is the whipped cream. Its astonishing whiteness is evocative of the lightest cloud, but a cloud that will simply melt away to nothing but satisfaction in your mouth. In short, the feelings inspired by the whipped cream almost overshadow the cake, which is lovely in and of itself. The cake is very grapey, made with fresh grapes, and uses both butter and olive oil in the batter. The finished dessert is a bit dense and almost clafoutis-like, although the description notes that it is reminiscent of a very moist coffee cake. If grapes aren't your favorite choice for dessert, berries or cherries can also be used to sweeten up this simple, not-too-sweet cake. And don't forget the whipped cream.

Personally, I like both the cake and the frosting when I have a cupcake because the two elements balance each other when eaten together. For others, the cupcake experience is all about the frosting, which they feel should be sweet, indulgent and in huge, billowy piles. They could take or leave the cake part. While the cake part of the cupcakes featured above is probably tasty, the thick frosting is one that should send thrills of joy through the hearts of frosting-lovers.

This is a Peach Cupcake with Martha Stewart's Mascarpone Frosting, made by the Cupcake Queen at 52 Cupcakes. The frosting is a combination of mascarpone, whipped cream and a little confectioners' sugar that is beaten at high speed until it is light as a cloud and richer than just about any other frosting you're likely to come across. With the peach cupcake, the frosting makes the dessert taste like peaches and cream, but it would work well on a chocolate or vanilla cake, too.

This deliciously patriotic-looking dessert is the perfect thing to throw together if you are headed out to a barbecue this afternoon. It is a variation on Eton mess concocted by Maki from i was just really very hungry for a 4th of July party and it consists of only a few ingredients: strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream and meringue (for crunch). She topped hers with a few star-shaped cookies for an especially festive look.

To make one, you just need a big bowl and all the ingredients, most of which you can buy (though Maki made her own meringues). The only tricky part is getting the cookie stars, which you'll either have to track down at the market or make yourself. Of course, it's probably a good idea to read though the whole recipe because that way you'll learn all the tricks that were used in adding tasty touches to this simple dish, such as balsamic vinegar on the strawberries and adding creme fraiche to the whipped cream.

Happy 4th of July!

A bicerin is the traditional drink of Turin, Italy. It has been made there since the mid 1700s, essentially unchanged over the past nearly 250 years. It is a mixture of milk and chocolate (locally produced in Italy), coffee and whipped cream. As you can see in the photo of David Lebovitz's lovely rendition of the drink, it is possible to see all three layers, the bottom layer being rich with milk and chocolate. As you might imagine, it is quite rich and it should be served in a small glass (called a bicerin, hence the name). His recipe makes it possible for you to whip up a batch of this decadent drink at home, to enjoy as you cheer on your favorite athletes at the Winter Olympic Games.